Aftermath
by ravenmione
Summary: When Hermione and Draco spotted each other in the Great Hall, everything went south. The Gryffindor could not contain herself and the Slytherin was getting attacked by his own mind. The panic attacks, the out of control emotions, the nightmares, the constant sight of murder. Would these two be able to endure all this for an entire year? Or would they crumble?
1. 1 Hogwarts

Hermione's grip on her trolley tightened as she stood between platforms 9 and 10 at King's Cross Station. Crookshanks rattled his cage, wanting to be let out. She ignored him and took a deep breath as she was about to depart to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry to attend her eighth year.

Around a month ago, Hermione had received a letter from Hogwarts requesting her return. At first, she had assumed that it was only Harry, Ron and herself that had received a letter since they had been absent their previous year hunting for Horcruxes. She had later discovered that it was her entire year who had been sent a letter, as they had not taken their NEWTs, the school had been controlled by Death Eaters and most crucially, there had been the war.

She had been absolutely thrilled at the fact that she had been given the chance to return due to being absent the previous year. However, after careful consideration, Hermione had started having doubts if Hogwarts would ever be the same. It had after all, where Harry had defeated Voldemort.

Over the summer, Hermione had been trying hard to forget the war, but she could not, it had had such a tremendous impact on her. She had been hunted and tortured by Death Eaters; it had been simply traumatic. After a week of contemplating, Hermione had decided to return, she had wanted to confront the issue, fearlessly like a Gryffindor. She had concluded that only when she faced her trauma would she be able to move past it, or so her mother kept telling her.

After Hermione had chosen to attend Hogwarts, she owled her best friends, wondering if they had accepted to return. But they had already accepted the proposition from the Ministry, to train as Aurors. Hermione had however declined the Ministry's offer as completing her education was more important.

Hermione, however, had felt quite relaxed at the fact that Harry and Ron would not be returning with her. The three had been receiving a lot of fame for saving the Wizarding World. She hoped not having Harry and Ron by her side, might lessen the attention of everyone. She felt that lesser attention would make her feel more at ease.

She closed her eyes as she ran through the solid brick wall between the platforms, opening her eyes to see herself now standing on platform 9 3/4. She observed the other students and their families. Hermione's hands lightly trembled, she clenched her hands as the tremble was slowly spreading to the rest of her body. Without being seen, she hurried onto the train to the first empty compartment, to tranquil herself. _Inhale. Exhale._ She took deep breaths, Crookshanks rattled his cage more vigorously now, he was displeased at how Hermione had run onto the train with him. _Inhale. Exhale._ The trembling slowly stopped.

A week after the war, Hermione had begun experiencing panic attacks, whenever something reminded her of the war. When the panic attacks occurred, she would tremble, have trouble breathing, and lose control. After a few attacks, Hermione and her parents — whose memories she had revived — decided it would best to distance their daughter from the Wizard Community until she got better and moved on from the trauma.

She had gotten better at controlling her attacks, but there was a difference controlling it in the Muggle World compared to the Wizarding World. _I'll get used to being back._

Hermione looked up as she heard the compartment door slide open and revealed Luna Lovegood with straggly dirty-blonde hair, white skin, and pale silvery eyes.

'Hello, Hermione,' said Luna serenely, then seated herself on the left side of the compartment, opposite of Hermione.

'Hi, Luna, how was your summer?' Hermione asked the Ravenclaw, trying to start a conversation.

'I was studying Umgubular Slashkilters over the summer, they are quite nice, but some can be,' she paused, contemplating her next words, 'very impolite,' she finished in her typical dreamy voice. The then blonde took out the newest edition of the Quibbler from her bag and began reading.

Hermione stared at Luna in disbelief, she felt rather uncomfortable as Luna had not tried to keep the conversation going and was reading instead. To Hermione's relief, the compartment door once again slid open. This time revealing a red-haired girl with light coloured skin and bright brown eyes.

'Hermione!' Ginny exclaimed seeing her bushy-haired friend. Ginny had not noticed Luna as the blonde's face had been covered by the Quibbler but revealed herself hearing Ginny exclaim. The Weasley hugged her two friends and seated herself cross-legged next to Hermione.

'Did you have a fun summer?' Hermione asked, curious as she was supposed to stay at the Burrow. Unfortunately, distancing herself from the Wizarding World included the Weasleys.

'We had lots of fun and Harry obviously stayed with us. Luna visited us a couple of times too, and we went to visit her as well, ' Ginny spoke fast and excitedly. Hermione gave her a forced smile, as she wished she could have been there too, which Ginny seemed to have noticed.

'But it would've been a lot more fun if you were there,' she added with a sheepish smile, trying to cheer the older Gryffindor up. Hermione gave her a more sincere smile as Ginny had tried to make her feel better.

'I needed you to take care of Ron. Do you know how irritating he was every time Harry and I were together? What does he expect me to do, stay away from my boyfriend?' she ranted. 'I think he'd shut up if someone was there to snog him,' she added teasingly. Hermione immediately understood what she was indicating.

'Absolutely not! You know that Ronald and I decided to stay friends,' Hermione said quickly and defensively. She took a book out of her bookbag, avoid discussing the subject.

Hermione and Ron had shared an intense kiss during the Battle of Hogwarts, which had been quite embarrassing as Harry had witnessed it. But Hermione and Ron were always bickering about something, yet they had tried to make it work. But after a while of dating, Hermione had gotten her first panic attack, which had occurred at the Burrow in front of the whole Weasley family. When it had been finalised, that Hermione was to distance herself from the Wizarding World, Hermione and Ron had decided it was best to end their relationship.

What Hermione had not confessed to anyone was that she still loved him, but she could not be with him. She did not expect him to wait until she had moved past her trauma. They had remained best friends as if nothing ever happened, and that was enough for Hermione, or so she told herself.

She cleared her mind from the thoughts about Ron and began reading, Ginny was now sitting next to Luna, they were trying to solve some puzzle in the Quibbler.

Hermione felt peaceful as she was reading. She had always loved to read, which everyone most certainly knew. But over the summer Hermione had got even more obsessed with books, they had calmed and made her forget about her traumatic past. Whenever she read, the reality around her faded and every time, a new atmosphere surrounded her; making her forget what was going on in the real world.

Now and then Hermione glanced up from her book and gazed out the window, taking in the beautiful and calming scenery. The train ride was long, and Hermione had already managed to finish her book before arriving, but she could tell by the scenery that they were almost there.

After a while, Hermione noticed Hogsmeade station in the distance and prepared to leave. 'We're here,' she informed her younger friends and they all left the compartment.

* * *

Draco knew that all the students would be repelled to see him, therefore he decided to leave the train last when the station would be least crowded, trying to avoid as many students as possible. He had returned to Hogwarts with his closest friends, Blaise Zabini, Theodore Nott and Pansy Parkinson.

He had been staying at Malfoy Manor ever since the war ended. His parents had used everything in their power to keep him at home, but Draco had still managed to escape sometimes. He refused to stay at the Manor, as everything in the Manor reminded him of the war.

The drawing-room, where the Dark Lord and his Death Eaters had been assembling, the wooden floors, where the snake, Nagini had been slithering around and the gardens, where he had had to dispose of corpses. However, worst of all was his father's sitting room, where he had witnessed the Dark Lord torture his parents. He heavily despised the drawing-room, not because of the presence of the Dark Lord and his followers, but because in that very room his deceased aunt, Bellatrix had tortured people including one he had known since he was a child.

When Draco had managed to escape from the Manor, people had thrown dirty looks at him, shoved and criticized him. After a few occurrences, his parents had banned him from leaving, watching him closely like hawks.

The arrival of his letter from Hogwarts, requesting his return had been his chance to escape. But his parents had immediately said, 'No.' He had pleaded his mother to leave, he had presented all sorts of reasonings, anything that would convince his mother to let him to go. After a great deal of pleading and persuading, Narcissa Malfoy had agreed. Draco was convinced that the Hogwarts student would treat him like every other wizard and witch but, it did not matter because he had been given his freedom.

Draco had lied like never before to persuade his mother to leave the Manor, one of his reasonings had been redemption. Which had been the only truth, he had told.

Draco and his fellow Slytherins were walking towards the carriages pulled by thestrals, he had been seeing them ever since the Battle of the Astronomy Tower, when Albus Dumbledore had been killed by Severus Snape, right in front of him. Although this time his fellow Slytherins would be seeing them for the first time.

When they arrived at the carriages, the thestrals became visible. The black skeletal body of a horse with big wings similar to a bat, it was an extraordinary beast, beautiful in its rare way. Draco could feel the guilt flowing in his body, just like it had done when he had allowed Death Eaters into Hogwarts. He felt a hand grip his wrist, preventing him from walking any further, followed by a small shriek caused by the short, black-haired girl with eyes the same colour as her hair.

'What are those?' Pansy frightenedly asked, still clutching his wrist. Draco sighed at her obvious reaction and released himself from her grasp. He continued walking, Pansy slowing following him and his male friends.

'It's just thestrals, Pansy,' he said in a cool tone, which surprised her. Meanwhile, Draco was surprised that his two male friends had not reacted at all seeing the thestrals.

They all stepped into a carriage and sat down, wordlessly. Draco was in deep thought about how the other students would react when they saw him. He was preparing himself for the absolute worst.

'Do you think Potter's here?' Theo asked casually, his attention on the wand he was twirling in his hand. Theodore Nott was tall, slim and had nude-brown hair with green eyes covered by spectacles.

All of them glanced at him. Draco had not considered Potter at all, he would definitely not be able to survive a whole year with Potter and his two sidekicks, who saved the whole Wizarding World. _Great._

'_So_? I intend to avoid Potter, if he notices us, then the whole school will too,' said the tall, dark-skinned boy with high cheekbones and long eyes, coolly. It appeared as though Blaise had already reflected Theo's question before. No one spoke after Blaise, but Draco agreed, avoiding Potter was certainly for the best.

The carriage descended on the ground and the Slytherins climbed out, their carriage was the last to arrive. They strolled through the Hogwarts gate and into the castle. They all hurried to the Great Hall realising the Welcoming Feast was about to begin.

Thankfully, the Slytherin table was closest to the entrance of the Great Hall, which meant they could enter without being noticed. They seated themselves at the end of the Slytherin table, as Draco observed the students, most of them were ignoring him, but some would glance occasionally, which is not what Draco had at all expected.

Draco glanced over to the Gryffindor table on the other side of the hall, trying to spot Potter, but there was not a single sign of the scar-headed boy, he could not spot his ginger sidekick either. But then his eyes landed on _her_.

Draco swallowed as he examined her, the girl who had been tortured in front of him, in his house, in that very drawing-room, by his loathsome aunt. He felt the guilt sink into his body as he stared at her. He shifted his attention to his hands, trying his best to avoid her, but there was an urge to check if she was unharmed, but when he glanced up, he could not locate her or her bushy curls.

* * *

The Great Hall appeared to be full now, as Hermione seated herself beside Ginny at the Gryffindor table. It had been a long time since she had been surrounded by so many people. Hermione was on friendly terms with a lot of students, but being a war heroine, attracted much more attention, which she was most definitely not used to.

All the Gryffindors were bombarding her with questions and compliments for her achievements. The situation was overwhelming and was getting out of control. Ginny seemed to notice that her friend was struggling and instantly yelled, 'Shut it!' making everyone settle down. Aside from the attention, Hermione was happy to be back, to the place where she had matured. Hogwarts was the place that held her most treasured memories.

She glanced up to the staff table in front of the hall, Headmistress McGonagall was about to start the feast, but Ginny had poked her making Hermione shift her attention. Ginny motioned towards the Slytherin table at the end of the hall, where Hermione saw a boy with white-blonde hair, cold grey eyes, a pale complexion, and sharp-pointed features.

She instantly recognised him, _he_ was the one who had let Death Eaters into the school causing the death of Albus Dumbledore, _he_ was the one who had almost killed Ron and Katie Bell and _he_ was the one who had watched as she had been tortured by his aunt.

Tears threatened to fall from Hermione's eyes as she recalled all the things Draco Malfoy had done. She looked away from him to her lap, as she felt her legs tremble. The trembling rapidly spread through the rest of her body, she mentally prepared herself.

She wanted to run out of the hall, but the last thing she wanted to do was cause a scene. Hermione thought fast, remembering that she was a witch, she flicked her wand as she cast the disillusionment charm on herself, she peered at her body, which had taken on the exact colours of her surroundings.

Hermione was aware that she was not invisible, but no one was paying attention. Ginny had not even noticed that Hermione had cast the charm. Carefully, she rose from her seat so that Ginny would not notice and then broke into a sprint.

Tears were now running down Hermione's face as she sprinted out of the Hall. She did not want to cry, she did not want to seem weak, but she could not control her emotions, they were everywhere. When she was finally out of the Hall; she collapsed on the ground as her legs had been trembling horribly. She took deep breathes as the tears continued to fall from her eyes. When the trembling slowly faded and her breathing got more stable, Hermione stood up and marched away from the Great Hall to the Gryffindor tower.


	2. 2 The Nightmare

_Draco found himself standing in a great room which had mulberry walls with several portraits, and a massive crystal chandelier hanging from the ceiling. He furrowed his eyebrows, confused to why he was at Malfoy Manor and not at Hogwarts. He gazed around the drawing-room and concluded that he was alone. He softly strolled over the dark walnut floor to the same coloured burning mantelpiece at the end of the room. The fire was the only source of light in the room, making it appear gloomy. Draco observed the flickering fire, but his observation was disrupted by an excruciating scream._

_He urgently turned around to see who had screamed and saw a girl folded on the floor, her brown curls concealing her face. Draco instantly identified the girl, earlier in the Great Hall he had been searching for the girl with the same bushy brown hair, Hermione Granger. His eyes were wide as he stared at the motionless girl in horror but turned his attention to the shadows as he heard the clicking of heels. A tall, beautiful woman with thick dark hair and pale skin as his own, emerged from the dark. His aunt, Bellatrix Lestrange. His eyes enlarged with confusion and terror as he witnessed his deceased aunt in front of him. She strutted close to the Gryffindor, her wand directly pointed at her and then yelled, 'Crucio!'_

Granger_ shrieked as the curse hit her, Draco noticed how her body trembled when the curse had stopped. He attempted to approach her but could not raise his feet, it was as if they had been cemented to the ground. He kept struggling to lift his feet his eyes glued on Granger as the older woman cackled at his attempts._

_Draco shifted his attention back to Bellatrix to see her tighten her grip on her wand and aimed it back towards the trembling girl. Draco began impelling his body more urgently as he saw the wand directed at the Gryffindor, a psychotic smile appeared on his aunt's face as she enjoyed Draco panic._

_'Avada Kedavra!' Bellatrix screamed. _A flash of green light hit Granger.

Draco jolted into a sitting position, as he heavily panted. He could feel the soft sensation of his bed against his palms. He clutched the bedding, as he realised it had been a dream, a nightmare. He took deep breaths calming himself. He had had nightmares similar to this one, but they had stopped, after the downfall of the Dark Lord. The blonde opened his eyes when he heard a familiar deep voice.

'You alright, mate?' Blaise had said, he was leaning against the bottom right column of his four-poster bed. Draco glanced at the window behind him to see if it was morning or not. The lake was barely illuminated by the sun, implying that it was quite early.

Draco rolled his eyes at Blaise, annoyed by his question.

'Why wouldn't I be alright?' Draco retorted, he was not entirely in his best state, having had a horrendous nightmare but he did not need Blaise to point out the apparent.

Draco had all his life been one to secrete his feelings, he did not enjoy when people sympathised with him or had they pitied him? The only people he had ever been frank with about his emotions were Blaise, Theo and Pansy. But he was only open with them when needed, never voluntarily.

'_Well_,' Theo said in a yawn, he was sitting on the floor to the left of Draco's bed, 'you were grunting a lot.' Theo seemed utterly exhausted seemingly due to Draco's grunting. Draco opened his mouth to protest that he was fine, but Blaise interrupted him.

'You're having nightmares again, aren't you?' The muscles in Draco's face tightened as he stared plainly at Blaise, trying not to give away that he was right. Blaise broke the eye contact and looked over to Theo. 'Didn't he say his nightmares stopped?' Draco shifted his attention to Theo waiting for his response so that he could speak freely without getting interrupted.

'He did. But—,' he once again yawned. The exhausted Slytherin turned his attention to Draco and suddenly all drowsiness vanished from his face. He sceptically narrowed his eyes and then made himself comfortable on Draco's bed. The blonde glared at him in response, but Theo overlooked it. 'What triggered it? You must have seen _something_ at Hogwarts that prompted the nightmare. What was it about?' The Slytherins gazes were fixed on him, eagerly anticipating an answer.

'I don't know — maybe being back at Hogwarts,' he answered hesitantly, 'I'm going to sleep now,' Draco lied, but they did not question it. He shoved his green-eyed friend off of his bed, and then shut the curtains of his four-poster bed. He laid back down on his bed, contemplating Theo's last statement.

He knew precisely what had prompted the nightmare. It had been Granger, but he was not going to mention that to Blaise and Theo, but he felt anxious that they would figure it out. _They always did._ He shut his eyes but did not go back sleep, afraid he would be back at the Manor.

Hermione woke up around 7 am the day after the Great Feast. Yesterday, when she had seen Malfoy, she had gone to the Gryffindor common room. She had rested in her favourite armchair in front of the golden-red fire. It had been strange sitting there without the presence of Harry and Ron. She had admired the flames as tears had run down her face. She had reflected on why she had gotten so upset seeing him.

Mostly over the summer, Hermione's panic attacks had been linked to her family and friends, seeing illusions that they were harmed or even dead. She had not considered the other side of the war as they had lost. But seeing Malfoy, she had thought of how he had tried to protect them at the Manor but afterwards had watched her be tortured. And later on, they had escaped Room of Requirement together.

The more she thought of the past, the sadder she had gotten. Draco had proven himself in the war that he was not all bad and had the potential to be better but all the bad could not be coated. _There is just so much wrong with that Slytherin._

Hermione changed into her Gryffindor robes and silently exited the dormitory, trying not to disturb her sleeping classmates. She wandered from the Gryffindor tower to the Great Hall to eat breakfast.

As she had assumed, there were hardly any students in the hall. She reached the Gryffindor table and sat down, she looked towards the staff table curious if the staff were awake this early. At the front of the Hall sat Madam Hooch and Madam Pince.

Hermione then turned to the food in front of her and immediately began eating everything in hands reach. She had fled the feast yesterday before it commenced and had been starving ever since. It was understandably the reason she had woken up so early.

After she finished eating, Hermione noticed Madam Pince walking around the Hall providing students with their schedules. The Gryffindor had been so immersed in her eating, that she had not noticed the increase of students in the Hall.

'Hermione!' she looked over to the call of her name and saw Neville Longbottom, running towards her. Neville was a tall, sturdy boy with dark hair. 'It's good to see you again. I would've greeted you yesterday but the whole Gryffindor lot was surrounding you.' He said as he seated himself next to her and began eating porridge.

'How long do you think they'll be doing _that_?' Hermione asked Neville instead of greeting him, he glanced away from his porridge to her with a confused grimace. 'Coming up to me as I'm a big deal. I didn't do anything extraordinary.' Hermione was genuinely curious, why people were interested in her all of a sudden. She understood why the Ministry was fond of her. But at Hogwarts, no one had particularly liked Hermione, she had just been the bookworm, who no one had noticed. The fact that destroying one Horcrux and helping the Chosen One could substitute all that, Hermione could not comprehend.

'You're barking, Hermione,' Neville exclaimed. 'You destroyed a Horcrux, that's a huge deal. I _know_ that you don't enjoy the attention but give the lot a while, they'll realise that you're not interested,' he explained, but Hermione was not convinced.

'But that's just it, Neville. I don't think it has anything to do with the Horcrux. I mean, you also destroyed one, you destroyed _the_ last one. Without you, Harry wouldn't have been able to kill Voldemort. You killed _the snake_ in front of everyone with the sword of Gryffindor! I destroyed the cup in the Chamber of Secrets, which no one even witnessed!' Hermione said hastily and rather loudly, making a few students glance towards them. Hermione sighed at the students' reaction. When she had yelled in her previous years — usually at Ron — no one had minded. Neville opened his mouth to respond but closed it again. Neville frowned at Hermione's valid arguments and could not come up with any other reason to why she was receiving so much attention from other students. The two Gryffindors silently ate, not knowing how to continue the conversation.

'Sorry, I'm just—I've been so stressed lately, you know being back, I just needed to get out it all out,' she said quietly, she had not meant to make Neville uncomfortable but the students were not helping her adjust.

'Hi!' a voice said, which made the two Gryffindors look up to at Ginny, who had taken a seat in front of them, accompanied by Luna. 'When did you two get here?'

'I've been here for almost an hour,' Hermione replied, she glanced over to Neville, expecting him to reply after her, but he did not and kept his eyes on his porridge. Hermione grimaced at his behaviour and reluctantly answered for him. 'And Neville arrived a while ago.'

'Look, Madam Pince is coming,' Luna said in a relaxed manner, as Madam Pince approached. She delivered the lot their schedules and proceeded down the Gryffindor table giving the rest of the students theirs. The four of them inspected their schedules and continued talking until the bell rang, indicating the first-morning class.

They all went out of the hall together, Ginny and Luna walked up the staircase to class, while Hermione and Neville went down to the dungeons to potions class.

The two Gryffindors entered the potions classroom, it was a large dungeon, the walls lined with pickled animals in glass jars. It was also rather cold, a significant constituent of the Hogwarts Dungeons. At the front of the class stood Horace Slughorn, the Potion Master was a rather fat, bald, old man. He was short with an immense belly.

'Miss Granger, Mr Longbottom. I am delighted to see both of you. Please take a seat, 'Professor Slughorn said as he gestured them towards a table.

The bell rang for the first class, Draco and the Slytherins hurried to potions class. They were not the sort to be behind schedule but ever since yesterday it felt as they were barely on time. Pansy opened the door, the Slytherins paused in the entrance waiting for Professor Slughorn to acknowledged them. He motioned them towards the vacant table on the right side of the room. Draco was about to head towards the table with his friends but noticed the girl who had been murdered in his nightmare just a few hours ago. Granger, however, did not acknowledge him as she was immersed in her potions book. He wandered over to his fellow Slytherins as he had noticed that the Professor was waiting on him.

'First I want to welcome all of you back to Hogwarts. I am pleased to see that so many of you have chosen to come back for the additional eighth year. To the students who had been a part of the Slug club two years prior,' he said and first glanced towards Granger and then Blaise. Draco had thought for a moment that the professor had also glanced at him but decided that he must have imagined as he was not a member of the Slug Club. 'The headmistress has decided to reinstate the club. Anyhow, today we will be brewing the _Elixir to Induce Euphoria, _open your _Advance Potion-Making _book_, _all the instructions to brew the elixir are in there. You have one hour.'

The students placed their cauldron on the table and went to get their ingredients on the shelf. Draco rose from his chair to get the ingredients but halted as he saw Granger getting hers off the shelf.

Not feeling confident enough to be in the same proximity as her, Draco asked Theo to bring his ingredients, but Theo refused as he did not like being told what to do. Draco then turned to Pansy, who reluctantly went to get his ingredients, as well as her own.

He was still quite shaken from his nightmare. It had reminded him of the skirmish that had taken place in his house. The nightmare had reminded him of many things, but the most impactful was that he had not been able to aid the female Gryffindor.

During the skirmish, Draco had been so frightened, that his body had tensed, making him unable to help the curly-haired girl. But the dream had only reminded him what a coward he had been and that he would never be able to change that about himself. He was a Slytherin after all.

Pansy returned to their table with the ingredients and placed them in front of him. The grey-eyed Slytherin read the instructions as he began the process of brewing a potion. But his entire attention was not on the elixir, every once in a while, he glanced up at Granger, but he could not see her as Longbottom was blocking her from view. Her brown bushy hair was, however, still visible to him as her hair had expanded by the fumes in room.

He had noticed Blaise and Pansy glance at him occasionally, they had certainly seen him watching Granger. He stopped before they got too suspicious. Theo was quite oblivious and did not notice anything, he brewed his potion serenely while humming something lightly. He was a rather odd chap, but that's what made Theo _unique_.

When the hour passed the Potion Master went around the class inspecting everyone's elixir. When he reached to examine Draco's elixir, he grimaced at his work. 'Not what I expected from you, Mr Malfoy,' he plainly said, Draco had to agree, it was most definitely not his best. He had been more focused on a certain witch than his potion.

He glanced up to where Granger was sitting and was astounded to see her bottomless brown eyes looking back at him. Their eyes met for a brief second before Granger broke the eye contact, turning back to her potion. She undoubtedly had been trying to hear the Potion Master's comment about his potion. There had always been a competition between Draco and Granger. But Granger had always beaten him, even in potions. _Sometimes_.

Slughorn was considerably slow today, Draco desired to flee the classroom as it was filled with fumes from everyone's elixir and was starting to feel rather drowsy. He shook off the drowsiness away when Slughorn reached the other end of the classroom where Granger was sitting. 'My goodness, Miss Granger. You never fail to impress me, a perfect _Elixir to Induce Euphoria_.' Draco rolled his eyes, precisely what he expected from the Gryffindor. _Shocker_.

The bell rang, indicating the dismissal of the class. Draco, once again, glanced over to Granger, to see her quickly put all her belongings into her bag. She had then seized Longbottom and dragged him out of the classroom. He looked over to his best friends, they were all staring at him with puzzled expressions. Draco was sure that they had witnessed him staring at Granger. _Again_.

Copying the Gryffindor, Draco hurriedly put all his belongings in his bag and dashed out of the classroom before he could be inquired by his meddling friends.

Draco was in the Slytherin common room, he was lying down on the black leather couch with a random book, he had found lying on a table. He had opened it on a random page and begun reading, he did not particularly enjoy the introduction of books as they were always so dull and boring and preferred to start somewhere in the middle. He had finally begun understanding the situation in the book before he was interrupted.

Pansy emerged from the passage followed by his two male friends. 'Care to explain what _that_ was, Draco?' she inquired teasingly, as she put her bag on the table. He swiftly decided to pretend to be oblivious, to avoid the telling Pansy about his nightmare.

'I don't think I am aware of what _that_ is,' he responded sounding more formal than he had attended. He then turned back to the book, hiding his face. He let out a silent, deep sigh, feeling relaxed as Pansy did not ask anything else for the next minute until she grasped the book from him.

'Oh, I am absolutely sure you know what _that_ is,' she responded mockingly and just as formal as him. 'You kept staring at Granger, and it wasn't discreetly.' In the past, Draco would have said that Pansy was jealous that some other girl had his attention but that was not the case anymore. She was simply just conversing with him. She sighed; her casual expression turned into a worried one as she seated herself on the table in front of him. 'Draco, are you OK?'

'What does Granger have to do with my well-being?' Draco blurted out; he had been prepared that Pansy would taunt him about staring at the famous war heroine.

'It doesn't. I'm just asking if you're OK," she said far too gently. Draco was completely perplexed, the last Pansy had been this gentle had been — well, never actually. Just as Draco was observing her, Pansy glanced at Blaise and Theo, who had seated themselves on the opposite couch.

'You told her!' Draco exclaimed, standing, his mouth open. Pansy had flinched at Draco's outburst. He mentally scolded himself for not suspecting that his male friends would have blabbed to Pansy.

'It had to be fair,' Theo said, chuckling, not taking Draco serious at all. Draco was about to yell at him, but Blaise put a comforting hand on his shoulder.

'Mate, just tell us,' the dark-skinned boy said as he seated himself next to Draco. 'We just want to be able to help you, nothing else.' Draco glanced at Pansy and Theo, both nodding in agreement. Draco pressed his lips together; his friends were not very persuasive, but they were his only friends.

'Fine,' he said reluctantly, 'I saw her die.' He then described the nightmare to his friends briefly, not sharing all the details of how it had affected him.

Draco's friends had always been by his side and he had sometimes taken them for granted. He had been especially grateful for them in their sixth year when Draco had been chosen by the Dark Lord to kill the previous Headmaster, Albus Dumbledore.

They had not known what his task had been, but they had not asked. They had helped him along the way if he had needed it or looked like it, from schoolwork to his health. They had done it all without question. He had never done anything for them that was so critical. He had never been allowed to be there for them like they were for him. He was relieved, however, that he never needed to either. _At least they had a good life._


	3. 3 The Stares

It was the 3rd of September and the students were used to being at back at Hogwarts, seeing all their teachers, attending classes, seeing their friends every day.

But one particular student had still not adapted to the new environment. Surrounded by the bookshelves of the Hogwarts Library, Hermione was sitting at a table, pretending to read a book while thinking of a certain blonde. For some reason, the Gryffindor had spotted the boy far more than usual. She would know when he had entered the classroom or when he had been in the same hallway as her. She could not believe that she had actually looked him in the eye during Potions yesterday without crying or at least yelling at him.

She had overlooked the fact, that even if she was not in the same house as Malfoy and his cronies, she would still be seeing them. O_nly when I face it, will I be able to move on, _she reminded herself_. _Hermione however, had no desire to face Malfoy, she was utterly convinced that she could live the rest of her life neglecting his presence, which she planned to do. She began reading, clearing her mind of Malfoy, who had been on her mind more than usual.

'Hi,' said a male voice, it was a familiar voice, but she could not tell who it was. She peered up from behind her book to see the Slytherin, Theodore Nott looking back down at her. He was tall and wore round spectacles concealing his green eyes. He reminded her somewhat of Harry with the green eyes and glasses, but Harry had emerald-green eyes while Nott had sort of olive-green eyes.

She glanced around the library, no one was in their section, was the greeting meant for her? She opened her mouth to question him, but Nott had caught on.

'Yes, I'm speaking to you.' She furrowed at him, then put her book down, focusing all her attention on him.

'And why is it that a _Slytherin_ would be speaking to _me_?' Hermione inquired, unsmiling.

'Is it a crime for a Slytherin to speak to a Gryffindor?' Nott asked while raising his eyebrow.

'Oh,' Hermione replied through a fake laugh, 'Now I'm just a _Gryffindor_?' Hermione asked, shifting back to her serious facade.

'What's that supposed to mean?' Nott asked. Hermione stared back at him disbelief, stunned that he did not understand what she had inquiring. She had meant the label purebloods like him used to define people with the non-magical parents, like herself. She rose from her chair, the table between them, looking him in the eye, it was not a glare, but a dejected stare.

'I won't—utter _that_ word,' she responded, his lips slightly parted in awareness. He shut his eyes, regaining his vain self, then looked at her again, as if the last couple of minutes had not happened.

'Listen, I just came to ask if you're alright?' Hermione just stared at him, without any particular expression. She did not reply. 'Let's get going, Granger. Arithmancy is about to begin.' Hermione was surprised that he had decided to walk her to class but she did not let it show. She did not want to walk with him, but her class was about to commence. They both headed out of the Library together, but Hermione increased her speed, walking ahead of him. Not wanting to be seen with Nott and not trusting the manner, he had shown her.

* * *

Draco was quietly eating his lunch in the Great Hall while his friends were talking amongst themselves, he was not sure what they were on about as he did not pay attention.

He was glancing between Theo, who was sitting opposite to him and Granger on the other side of the Hall. He was pondering what he had seen in Arithmancy.

After Draco had left the Slytherin common room, he had gone to the third floor where Arithmancy was taught. He had been waiting outside the classroom for Theo to arrive. But Theo did not arrive until the last minute when Draco had been seated inside the classroom.

What had surprised the blonde, had been the fact that Theo had entered the classroom with the bushy-haired Gryffindor. All through Arithmancy up until now Draco had been trying to figure out why his _Slytherin_ friend had come to class with the _well-known_ _muggleborn_.

The most reasonable answer he had come up with was that it had something to do with the nightmare. He had another one this morning, it had been quite similar to the first one. But even that sounded completely ridiculous, what could Theo possibly have said? _Well, Draco had a nightmare and you died, let's go to class. _He shook his head at his horrible imagination.

When he glanced back at Theo, Draco noticed that he too was looking towards the Gryffindor and so were Blaise and Pansy.

Now Draco was all the more confused, why was everyone so immersed with the Gryffindor Princess. He mentally slapped himself, as he too was staring.

Draco turned his attention to his friends, 'What are you doing?' Draco questioned the lot of Slytherins.

'Nothing,' they all said in unison as they instantly shifted towards their lunch.

A couple of days later, Hermione was in the courtyard, she was sitting on the edge of the fountain, which was surrounded by eagle statues. In her hand, she was reading her transfiguration book, _A Guide To Advanced Transfiguration._

After a while, Hermione felt as if she was being watched, she looked around the courtyard to see if anyone else was present. Behind her, on the other side of the courtyard, Pansy Parkinson was sitting with a book. The Gryffindor had caught the bob-haired girl staring, but when their eyes had met, Pansy had looked down at her book.

Hermione grimaced at the situation, _how odd_, she thought. Pansy Parkinson had always thrown Hermione an insult whenever she saw her. Ignoring the female Slytherin, she looked back at her book but was interrupted.

'Hermione!' she groaned as her reading had been interrupted, however, she still smiled when her young red-head friend sat down beside her.

'Hi,' she said, 'what's the matter?' Hermione added, noticing her worried expression.

'Slughorn gave us an assignment, to write a detailed analysis on _Draught of The Living Dead. _You have to help me!' she finished as she had grasped Hermione's arm and begging her like a child would for sweets. Hermione laughed at her childishness.

'I'll help you later tonight, but listen,' she said as she moved closer to Ginny. 'I don't know if I'm paranoid, but I think Parkinson is watching me,' she whispered, Ginny who was inches away from her face, furrowed her eyebrows. Hermione slightly tilted her head towards the Slytherin. She observed the youngest Weasley as she discreetly glanced at the alone Slytherin.

'Merlin, she is,' Ginny replied in a hushed voice. 'Any idea why? Hermione shrugged.

A few days prior Theodore Nott had approached for no apparent reason and also walked her to class. And now his female friend was observing her.

'Do you think, she might be plotting something against me?' Hermione asked Ginny, who just chuckled at her wild imagination.

'Highly doubt it.'

'I agree with the ginger,' the Gryffindors flinched at the third voice, who had interrupted their private conversation. Leaning against one of the eagles was Parkinson, they had not noticed her move towards them as the two Gryffindors had been completely engrossed in their conversation. 'And relax Granger, I'm not going to poison you,' she said coolly.

And with that the Slytherin left Hermione bewildered, the dark-haired girl had now approached her but still no insult.

As it got darker outside, the two Gryffindors made their way to the Great Hall for dinner, as they reached the entrance, a tall boy halted in front of them. Slightly startling the two girls, _that's the second time today._

Zabini turned around, 'Granger,' he said in acknowledgement and continued inside and seated himself at the Slytherin table. Hermione was puzzled, was she the only person the Slytherins could see? She could not continue her thoughts as Ginny gripped her wrist when they had walked past the Slytherin table and dragged with her to their table.

Ginny pushed Hermione to sit and then seated herself. 'Explain.'

'What?' Hermione asked, completely lost what her friend was on about.

'Explain, why the Slytherins keep coming up to you as if they've been imperioused. There is absolutely no way they are doing that willingly,' she elaborated. Hermione frowned a bit; she wondered the same thing.

'Ginny, I honestly don't know,' she said, Ginny looked at her in disbelief. 'Honestly!' Ginny did not reply and instead glanced at the other side of the Hall; Hermione copied her. Both of them caught Zabini and Nott looking their way, the two boys instantly looked down at their food as the Gryffindors caught them. The Gryffindors stared at each other in complete disbelief. _I'm going mad._

* * *

Draco and Theo were walking back to their common room, they had been in the library doing their Arithmancy homework. 'Occamy,' Theo said, as they had reached the stone wall that led to the Slytherin common room, the passage appeared.

When they were inside the common room, they saw Blaise and Pansy laughing. Pansy had a light girlish laugh while Blaise had a deeper laugh. They were sitting on the black leather sofa together, very closely. Blaise even had his arm around her shoulder.

Blaise and Pansy were very close and comfortable with each other. Draco had always found it hard to define their relationship. They were both so comfortable as if they were siblings. But had a chemistry that no siblings shared, and Draco would often believe they were a couple. Which Pansy had made clear they were not, she had even punched Draco in their fifth year for asking. Even though she had denied it, Draco knew what they both felt for each other was more than friendship.

'What are you two laughing about?' Theo asked, as he threw his book bag on the floor and lounged down on the other couch opposite to Blaise and Pansy. Draco put his bag on the floor and sat down on the armchair, his feet on the table.

'Do tell,' Draco added, as he made himself comfortable in his seat. He had been completely knackered after all the studying him and Theo had done in the library.

'Oh, just Granger,' Pansy answered casually, all of Draco's drowsiness disappeared hearing the female's answer. He took his feet off the table and sat up in a more decent way. Normally Draco would not have reacted this way at the mention of the Gryffindor's name. But he kept getting nightmares about her and he was curious how she was.

'Settle down, mate,' Blaise said with an amused expression, which could have been caused by Draco's reaction or by the fact that Pansy was completely nuzzled to his side. 'Pansy and I just checked on her today, nothing else.

'I did that too, a couple of days ago,' Theo said, shifting to a sitting position instead of lying, more interested in the conversation.

'Why would you idiots do that? She doesn't want anything to do with us. Just let her be, OK?' Draco scolded them, but they did not react to it.

'What did we do?' Pansy said, defending them, but abruptly covered her mouth with her hand, realising what she had said. 'Draco, I didn't mean too —' Draco frowned, she was right. They had not done anything to ruin the bushy-haired girl's life, he had. Well, Pansy had bullied her, but it was nothing compared to him.

'It's fine, just. . . I'm going to bed,' he said as he prepared to leave.

'You know, she's alright,' Blaise said before Draco had a chance to stand, Draco was looking at his feet, he smiled a bit, feeling reassured.

'Stop being so sulky, what did Granger do that was so hilarious?' Theo asked in anticipation.

Pansy explained, how paranoid the Gryffindor had been as she had noticed Draco's friends watching her. She also told them about how she thought, the Gryffindor had thought that Pansy had been plotting something against her.

Afterwards, Draco and his male friends went to the dormitory to sleep and Pansy went to hers. Draco lay in his bed relieved that the Gryffindor had not been angry with his friends and that she had been fit and unharmed.

**Author's note**

**Sorry that this chapter is short, I really did not want to add another day to this chapter, so I'll try to make the next chapter more entertaining. But I just want to say thank you, your reviews are so sweet. I have been so busy, and I saw my recent review and I read through all of them again, so that's how I got my motivation to finish this chapter.**

**Edit**

**I know it has been so very long since I continued this story, but I miss writing and I want to continue this story. I had so much planned for all the characters and I am sad that I have no shared that. I am quite busy for the next three weeks but after that I will come back with the next chapter!**


	4. 4 The Invitation

It was an early morning mid-September; the mountains obscured the warm autumn sun, although the sun still managed to illuminate the Black lake through between the mountain peaks. The sky was a soft and clear blue and melted into a heavenly orange at the east as the sun had not reached its peak yet. In the window of the girls' dormitory, sat Hermione Granger admiring the sky of September; her usual brown bushy hair was wet from her shower and instead fell into loose curls. Hermione had always treasured the mornings at Hogwarts, nothing measured up to the brilliant landscape of the Hogwarts Grounds.

She glanced over to the letter on her nightstand and then smiled at the framed photo of her, Harry and Ron. It was a regular muggle photo (which did not move), it had been taken during the summer after their third year. When they had gone to the Quidditch World Cup. She remembered how excited Mr Weasley had been to take the picture using a muggle camera.

On her birthday, a few days ago, Hedwig had fluttered into the library with a letter. Seeing Hedwig, Hermione knew it had to be from Harry and that it was. He had wished her a happy birthday and notified her that he and Ron would be visiting her on the day of the first quidditch game of the year, Gryffindor against Slytherin. Since then Hermione had had something to look forward to besides the NEWTs.

She got up from the window, water trickling off the edge of her curls as she walked over to her trunk to retrieve her uniform. Before slipping into her uniform, the witch used her wand to dry her wet curls and in a matter of seconds, her hair was bushy once more.

For the past seven years, Hermione had almost constantly been the first student awake at Hogwarts. She enjoyed the atmosphere of the castle when deserted but it felt unusual this time. With every step down the marble stairs, she could hear spells cast and with every turn, she could hear agonising screams of death.

The war had ended, but to the young war heroine, it felt as if the souls of the deceased ones remained at the castle, re-experiencing their death for eternity. She shook her head trying to ignore the imaginary voices that her mind was creating to ridicule her. She smiled as if trying to deceive someone but there was no one nearby. Only Hermione and her hallucinations of death. _Maybe I'm not sane._

She deeply inhaled, having regained herself, she continued to her destination, the library. Hermione pushed the two great wooden doors open and proceeded to her favourite corner to read. She was retrieving her books from her bag as she walked past various bookshelves but suddenly halted. Her usual table was not vacant as believed but, occupied by Theodore Nott. The Slytherin was sitting opposite of the chair Hermione would usually vacate, she approached him gently as he had yet to spot her. The Gryffindor cleared her throat to let know her presence, Nott glimpsed at her.

'Morning, Granger,' he said acknowledging her without looking at her. He pushed his spectacles further up his nose and flipped the page of his book.

'Nott,' she said not greeting him. The library was where Hermione always felt comfortable. It was here, she allowed her imagination to take control; disregarding actuality. Considering what she had heard in the staircases she desired to take off, somewhere far. But the awkwardness between the Gryffindor and Slytherin was intruding her reading.

'It's a bit early to be at the library isn't?' she asked the green-eyed boy, trying to converse the uneasiness away. He peeked at her from behind his book. Hermione was certain he was wondering why she had attempted to converse with him after she had clearly stated, at the start of September that they had no reason to interact. Nott studied her as if she was testing him.

'I don't think so if you really enjoy something it's never too early,' his answer left Hermione stunned, did she and Nott have a common interest? She did, however, agree with him; in her prior years, she had always gone to the library early before Harry and Ron awakened, knowing they would not to accompany her.

'I agree! I was quite shocked that someone else was here before me,' she explained enthusiastically. The Slytherin chuckled at her openness which had surprised both of them. The awkwardness looked to have faded; the Gryffindor now read harmoniously, uncaring that she was in proximity with a Slytherin.

* * *

The Clock Tower Courtyard seemed to be one of the older parts of the castle as the columns and walls were dilapidated. Wild creepers were growing from gaps of the cobbled tarmac up the walls; giving the courtyard the appearance of standing ancient ruins. The courtyard was accessed from the third floor as it was situated on a hill; in the centre a fountain surrounded by statues of eagles. The Slytherin lot were assembled by the fountain, engrossed in their Transfiguration homework.

The blonde Slytherin, however, was unable to concentrate on the Human Transfiguration which they had to analyse. Draco shifted his attention towards the pear tree at the corner of the courtyard. Surrounded by ancient columns, the vibrant green leaves of the pear tear shone in the courtyard. His gaze lingered on the tree for a while; the lone tree held a completely different kind of allure. It is somehow mysterious when not surrounded by his kind.

His gaze once again shifted at a sudden movement; behind the columns, a student was heading towards the wooden bridge. Hermione Granger's brown bushy hair was visible between the columns, Draco assumed she was heading to the stone gazebo on the other side of the bridge. It sounded more realistic than the Gryffindor going to Sundial Garden alone.

Seeing the witch without Potter and Weasley was odd enough but seeing her by herself was a new sight. Not entirely new, he had seen her alone in First year before she had befriended the boy who lived and the Weasel. As he noticed that she was almost out of view, he stood up from the fountain and took a step forward.

'Where are you going, mate?' asked the green-eyed boy sitting on the ground his back against an eagle, Theo's question had snapped Draco back to reality. He looked where Granger had been walking merely seconds ago, she had gone.

'Just stretching,' he responded without paying attention to his friends' concerned expressions. The blonde was not sure if he had actually seen the war heroine or had his mind simply played a trick on him.

'Ah, Mr Malfoy,' the four Slytherins attention broke away from their homework to the bald and big, head of Slytherin, Slughorn. 'How wonderful, Mr Zabini you are here as well.' Draco and Blaise looked at each other as if they were inquiring the Potion Master's presence.

'Hello, Professor Slughorn,' Pansy spoke from Blaise's side, as none of the referred boys had acknowledged the Professor.

'Hello dear, oh Mr Nott you're also here,' the Professor said as he saw the Slytherin on the ground. 'Oh right, you must be wondering why I am here. Well, as I said at our first potion's class this year, I am reinstating the Slug Club,' Draco rolled his eyes, the club was for the "brightest and best" as Slughorn had put it. As one of the best students at Hogwarts, the blonde still felt resentment for not being asked to join. Even Potter had joined, and he was not the brightest, but he was aware that war hero had been asked to join due to his reputation. 'Mr Zabini, I expect you at our get-together this weekend. And Mr Malfoy, I also expect to see you,' with that said the Professor left.

'Alright mate, finally! It was way too suffocating with all the Gryffindors, you'd think Slughorn is one himself,' his olive-skinned friend said in excitement.

'Hey! How come I wasn't invited,' their female friend pouted.

'Pansy, you're not exactly the brightest,' the spectacled boy teased her. Pansy furrowed her brows and crossed her arms.

'Theo you're not invited either,' Draco said smirking.

'Seems like being invited already went to your head,' Theo laughed with Blaise. 'Besides I keep my talents to myself, I'm not letting that Professor exploit me for his image like the two of you.'

'You sound a bit jealous if you ask me,' Blaise responded with a comforting arm around Pansy, reassuring her that she was not dumb as Theo had indirectly put it. Draco, however, was a bit dissatisfied Potter was not at Hogwarts, he so wanted to rub it in his face that he too was invited. He had not noticed Pansy standing next to him until he felt her hand on his shoulder.

'You're going to be okay, right? He looked over his shoulder at his tiny friend, he was not aware of what she had been indicating. 'You know Granger is most likely going to be there too,' realisation slapped Draco in the face as the referred witch had done to him back in Third year. He did not think the question should have been asked to him, but the Gryffindor, would she be fine with his presence?

* * *

On the other side of the wooden bridge, a small stone gazebo was built, there on the bench sat the Gryffindor princess with a stack of books, she had pulled out of her book bag which was charmed with the Undetectable Extension Charm.

Up in the Gryffindor common room, one of her best friends, Ginny, who had been chosen as the Gryffindor Quidditch captain this year, had asked her to join Quidditch practice. She had denied her friend's offer and told her she had some homework to catch up on. Hermione could tell that her fiery-haired friend had not believed her because when had the Hermione Granger ever been behind in schoolwork?

She had, however, not stayed in the common room as when she had been left by herself, her fellow Gryffindors took this as an opportunity to hear about the war in detail and that Hermione did not want to discuss. She had pondered heading to the library but that would have given the Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs to bombard her with questions and she was certain that Madam Pince would not approve of the commotion that would have been caused.

After some quick thinking, she had chosen to head to the stone gazebo. While heading to the third floor from the Gryffindor tower, she had run into the Potions Master that of course wanted to chat with her even more now that she was a war heroine. He had informed her of the Slug Club's first get together, the Slug Club had never been Hermione's cup of tea but there would not be too many students and accepted. Not that Slughorn would have taken no for an answer.

She had then continued her travel and paused at the courtyard when she had spotted the Slytherin lot scattered around the fountain. She had kept her head down to concealing her face behind her bushy hair, she had walked quickly but silently behind the columns not wanting to be seen or heard. She had assumed she had been successful as none of the Slytherins had said anything and she had not dared to make eye contact.

Now at last alone in the gazebo, she was reading a book, brought from the Muggle world. Oddly, she could not read her book as she felt hassled. The scenery was apt for where one would reflect in solitary. The picturesque stone gazebo, vines filled with miniature slate blue flowers were growing up its pillars, further down was the Sundial Garden, there, stones were placed in a circle and the meaning of it, Hermione did not know.

Not realising it, she was observing her surroundings and subconsciously thinking of life at Hogwarts. It still felt bizarre, for the past seven years there had always been a plot that had Harry had to overcome, she and Ron had without a doubt helped. Now, the talk of the Wizarding World was her and her friends' accomplishments.

Having been unsuccessful to read and, Hermione headed to the Quidditch pitch instead. There she spotted six Quidditch players flying on their broomsticks in scarlet uniforms. When she had reached one of the stands surrounding the pitch, a player came flying at her and halted mid-air.

'Changed your mind?' Ginny said smirking as if she knew that Hermione would come eventually.

'Yeah, who's missing from the team?' the older Gryffindor asked, notching one was missing.

'Well as Harry and Ron decided not to come this year and Katie Bell graduating, I'm one player short which I didn't know!' the youngest Weasley yelled, Hermione detected her clenching her hands around her broom in frustration. 'I have to hold tryouts next week for a Seeker. I offered Dean to be Chaser which lucky for me he accepted but I was so desperate, I even let McLaggen be the Keeper.'

'It'll be alright. I'll even come to the tryouts and cheer you on, you're going to be a great Captain, better than Harry,' Hermione countered with a wink, trying to make her younger friend feel better. 'What are they doing here?' The Gryffindor Captain gazed at where her friend had been looking and saw seven Quidditch players in green walking onto the pitch.

'Definitely not!' Ginny shouted and soared down towards the Slytherins. Hermione stayed in the stand, she could distinctly see the white-blonde hair of Draco Malfoy, meaning he had decided to continue as Seeker this year as well. 'The pitch is reserved for the Gryffindors today!'

* * *

'Sorry Weasley got a note from Slughorn,' Urquhart, the Captain of the Slytherin team said as he swayed the note in front of the youngest Weasley. Draco noted how the Gryffindor Captain clenched her jaw in fury until she heard the mention of the Potions Master.

'Oh, did you say Slughorn? Well, that won't be a problem,' as if the red-head had planned it, the Potions Master arrived from behind the Slytherins. 'Professor Slughorn, how wonderful to see you. I heard that you've given the Slytherins a note to practice but unfortunately, us Gryffindor's have already booked it.'

'Oh, I see, Miss Weasley,' the blonde and his Captain's mouth fell open, was their head of house about to give the pitch back to Gryffindors? 'Well that won't be a problem, you can all practice, the pitch is big enough. You can even have some friendly competition,' at this the Weasley's mouth fell open like his own.

'But─,' before Draco could objection, the Professor left. The blonde was beginning to get irritated that the professor just came and went as he pleased without properly finishing the conversation.

'Fine, let's compete then,' Blaise chimed into the conversation, not minding some "friendly" competition.

'You seem a player short, Weasley. Haven't found a replacement for Potter yet,' Draco said through a smirk, his fellow Quidditch players laughing. At his remark, the five Gryffindor players immediately came soaring to join their Captain's side.

'You're lucky, Malfoy. If Harry had been here, you wouldn't have been able to catch the snitch anyways, finally a game you can win,' she said just as smugly as he had, the Gryffindors laughed at their Captain's comment. He scowled at her.

'Let's play then.' All the players kicked off from the ground after he had thrown the Quaffle up. Draco kicked off and then flew as high up as he could and there in the Gryffindor stand, he noticed, the bushy-haired girl.

The Slytherin was displeased that he was had been seeing her everywhere of every day. Every glimpse of her made guilt swell inside of him and he did not need that distraction during Quidditch practice. He was aware of everything he had done, and he felt ghastly, but it did not comfort him that Gryffindor Princess could not even spare him a peek. Was he not even worth that? He mentally slapped him, how dared he think she made it worse for him when he tormented her for _seven_ years? Disregarding his thoughts, he watched the pitch looking for the Golden Snitch.

* * *

Hermione could not overhear what was being debated down at the pitch but when the Gryffindors and Slytherins kicked off from the ground, she came to the obvious deduction that Slughorn had made them practice together. A Quidditch player in green flew past her, startling the Gryffindor. Blaise had flown past her for no needed reason at all, he did not have Quaffle and it had been nowhere near either. She watched as Ginny passed Dean the Quaffle who then scored, she jumped to her feet and cheered. She would usually not praise them during practice, but she had to support them against the Slytherins.

The witch heard a groan in response to her cheering, behind her Nott and Parkinson were seated. She could tell that it had been the female Slytherin who had groaned, she overlooked the two and turned back to the practice. She bit her lip anxiously, why had they decided to sit in the Gryffindor stand when they could have been far away from her in the Slytherin stand? After that Hermione did not turn around to the Slytherins during the entire practice, but she had a suspicion that they were boring holes into the back of her head rather than watching their friends play Quidditch.


	5. 5 The Gryffindor Tryouts

The most important and busiest weekend of September had arrived; the bright blue morning sky was concealed by clouds and it seemed as if a storm was heading towards Hogwarts. Hermione Granger had been walking towards her friends at the front of the Gryffindor table but almost passed them as her focus on was on the dull morning sky. She quietly seated herself between Ginny and Neville. Ginny smiled at her in acknowledgement before turning her attention back to her Quidditch team.

'You're so full of yourself, McLaggen!' she suddenly exclaimed, causing Hermione to jump, her hair whacking Neville in the face.

'Sorry, Neville,' the witch immediately apologised as she tied her bushy hair with a scarlet ribbon. 'What's got her all worked up?'

'Nothing particular. McLaggen is just being a prat as usual,' Neville caught her up to date, they turned their attention to the Quidditch players who were still bickering.

'Oh please, you know it's true,' the Keeper calmly retorted with a haughtiness that everyone noticed.

'I swear to Merlin, if you continue acting like this, I'll throw you off the team,' the youngest Weasley, hissed through her teeth. The Gryffindor Keeper smirked, giggling could be heard from the younger Gryffindors as a response, at this both Hermione and Ginny rolled their eyes.

'Then you'll be two players short, Weasley and you're not gonna find anyone better than me,' the conceited wizard said and then shifted his attention from the redhead to the brunette. 'Granger took you a while to come and see me,' he flashed a smile and Hermione was about to protest but he cut her off. 'Don't worry, you can make it up to me during dinner tonight. See you at the pitch, Weasley,' and with that, he was gone. Both witches were left with the mouth open.

'He's infuriating! I can make it up to him? He's worse than the Slytherins,' Hermione spat. The Gryffindor had become more self-absorbed since her Sixth year.

'This is what I've been dealing with for the past week! And he's going to be such a bother during tryouts and don't even get me started on Slughorn's dinner,' the Gryffindor Captain complained. Hermione had forgotten that Cormac McLaggen was favoured by the Potions Master.

'If it makes you feel better,' their male friend started, gaining the witches attention, 'I 'm an apart of the Slug club too.'

'Neville!' the witches exclaimed and hugged him. 'Guess destroying a Horcrux is what earned you a spot, you should've recruited based off of your Herbology skills though,' Ginny reassured him with a smile.

'The night might be more bearable,' Hermione rolled her eyes, thinking of the awkward dinners she had experienced. 'The Carrow twins won't be coming, will they?'

'No, they didn't return to Hogwarts,' the dark-haired boy confirmed. Hermione imagined how embarrassing it would have been for the twin girls to return, the backlash they would have received for being related to Alecto and Amycus Carrow. She was not aware of the twin's belief, but they too could have believed in blood purity.

'Okay, so the three of us, McLaggen,' as Ginny mentioned him, the three rolled their eyes. 'Zabini and… I think that's it.'

'That's a lot of Gryffindors,' Neville pointed out. Slughorn did not appreciate his own house as much as expected. The three finished their breakfast and headed out to the Quidditch pitch.

The sky had not become clearer but greyer, where the three Gryffindors had expected to see five Quidditch players dressed in scarlet robes. They saw three other students, Slytherins. Ginny ran up to her team to find out why they had come to the tryouts. Further down the pitch were Gryffindors who hoped to become the next Gryffindor Seeker. Hermione grabbed Neville's arm and pulled him towards the team to see what was happening.

'What are you doing here, Zabini?' Ginny asked him as sternly, he chuckled at how much she had sounded like the Headmistress.

'Came to see your new Seeker, of course,' he smirked, while Hermione rolled her eyes.

'I assume Malfoy is scared?' Hermione joined the discussion, Zabini and the Slytherin beaters turned towards her.

'Why don't you ask him at the dinner?' he said blatantly, but Hermione's composed expression faltered. At the change of expression, the Slytherin laughed.

'You didn't know?' he had a smug expression painted over his face; she could no longer hear the laughter of the Slytherin beaters, but only her heart beating getting louder. She was not aware of what she was feeling, she only knew she was processing the information. _Malfoy is going to be there?_ The bushy-haired Gryffindor had not noticed that she was unsteady and slightly swaying until Ginny grabbed her hand in aid and stood in front of her; hiding any sign of her state to the Slytherins.

'I suggest you leave before I hex that smirk off your face,' she threatened and at that Zabini did take a step back as the Ginny was known for casting a terrific Bat-Bogey hex. 'Leave,' she said more persistently, and they did. When they had gone, she began demanding the Gryffindors what to do, 'Hey, Neville will you go to the stands? I'll send Hermione over in a bit. Dean! Get the possible Seekers ready for tryouts.'

'He's going to be there,' was all that Hermione managed to utter, she felt slightly light-headed by the information.

'Yeah, he is,' her younger friend said silently, understanding. 'Hermione, I'm not forcing you to go but how long are you gonna avoid him? You're so much stronger than him, he should be dreading seeing you.'

'I am not scared of seeing him or interacting him or anything. What if I… lose my senses,' the traumatised witch had been referring to the panic attacks. Her mind had been off it recently, but she felt as if the clock was turning back and she was starting to get worse. 'He might trigger it and then everyone there will see and then everyone is going to know about… you know.'

'Then don't go but remember you're a brave Gryffindor and we Gryffindors don─'

'Don't run from fear, we face them,' she said numbly as if the words had been forced upon her and lost their meaning, but that did not occur to fiery-haired Chaser.

* * *

The only Malfoy heir, with the palest skin and equal pale hair, was pacing back and forth in the Slytherin common room. His cold grey eyes scanned the room, trying to find something that would calm him. The natural green tinge of the room was calming but today that was not enough for the blonde. He looked to the wall with tapestries of famous Medieval Slytherins and rolled his eyes. If anything, it felt as if the portraits were looking down at him.

'Oh, will you calm down,' Draco's eyes darted towards one of the black leather sofas, where his small female friend Pansy was sitting. He saw as she rolled his eyes at his nervous behaviour.

'Calm down?' he inquired exaggeratedly; his eyes so wide they would fall out of his eye sockets. 'This is Quidditch, we're talking about and we are not losing this year!'

'You'll do fine…unless the Gryffindors can magically get Potter to become Seeker,' she said the last part quickly, teasing her blonde friend. But Draco felt as if she had been taunting him and his eyes widened even more, and Pansy was certain that his eyes would fall out.

'Pansy, how can you say that!' Draco brushed his hand through his hair, he stood still, tapping his foot. He thought of different poisons, nothing lethal but something that could prevent the scar-headed boy from participating in the Inter-House Quidditch Cup.

'I wasn't seri─, the black-haired Slytherin stopped mid-sentence as she realised that nothing, she would say would calm the Seeker.

The new Gryffindor Seeker, however, was not Draco's biggest concern, over the past month his friends had noticed physical changes in him. He had dark circles under his eyes as if he had missed multiple nights sleep; he had told his friends, however, that it was due to early Quidditch practice. The Slytherins had not been convinced, as Blaise played Chaser and he was completely fine. Theo had also pointed out that the blonde seemed much thinner which made his already sharp features more visible, making him seem gaunt-like. The Slytherins could not demand that Draco eat every meal because he already did and none of his three friends had a clue to why he seemed to be getting weaker.

The blonde was, however, aware of what had caused the dramatic changes in his appearance but did not inform his friends. He had not even been aware of the change in his appearance until they had bluntly pointed it out. For the past month, he had been having nightmares every night, therefore he avoided sleeping so he did not have to experience guilt every night. The lack of sleep made Draco lose his appetite, but he forced himself to eat. But that led to him hurling in the bathroom between classes. The Slytherin refused to tell his friends as they would meddle and try to help which he did not want.

Pansy was now rubbing her temple as she had a migraine from Draco's pacing, and he did not stop until passageway to the common room opened. Through the passage, Blaise entered and seated himself next to the female casually. Draco stared, anticipating him saying something but the olive-skinned boy said nothing.

'Took you long enough! Who's the Seeker?' the blonde's patience evaporated, and he wanted answers. Before the Chaser could respond, Pansy burst.

'It's been twenty minutes, you imbecile! Now, will you calm down!'

'I don't know,' Blaise answered nonchalantly and before Draco could start whining, Pansy once again shrieked.

'How can you say that? He's been freaking out all morning and you were supposed to fix him,' she raised her hand as if about to smack him, but Blaise got up from the sofa and ran. Both Draco and Pansy chased him around the common room, the blonde wanted to smack him due to him unsuccessfully finding out who the Seeker was and the witch because her morning had been a pain.

'I had to leave!' Blaise yelled, trying to reason with them, 'She would've hexed me!'

'I'll hex you!' Pansy screamed at him and it was only then when Draco realised, he was pureblood wizard. He halted, retrieved his wand from his pocket and aimed it at his mate.

'Petrificus Totalus,' a white light shot out his wand and Blaise's body froze as he fell onto the ground backwards. 'You moron, it was a simple task.'

'For once, I agree with Draco,' Pansy joined in annoyed and disappointed. 'Finite,' Pansy quickly lifted the curse and then went back to the sofa.

'Sorry, I just had to rub it in Weasley's face,' he sheepishly smiled and followed her. The blonde stared at his friend, offended that he only apologised to the witch.

'Thanks for that apology, mate,' Draco added bitterly, feeling excluded. Pansy grimaced at his pettiness.

'Oh, grow up,' the Chaser retorted. Draco scoffed at his retort, still offended that he had not received a proper apology. He joined the two on the armchair next to the sofa.

'Why don't you marry her?' the witch said jealously and hurried to the girls' dormitory before Blaise could react. Draco laughed as Pansy's jealously was better than any apology, he could have received.

'Got a thing for Weasley?' Draco added with a smug face, but Blaise ignored his comment.

'You were right,' he blatantly said, Draco did not understand. 'Granger wants nothing to do with you.' The blonde gulped down the guilt that suddenly had risen in his throat. Before he could ask, Blaise spoke again, 'she looked absolutely horrified when she found out you're attending the dinner tonight.'

The thought of not attending the dinner had not been a consideration because he wanted to be praised by the Potions Master. Not replying or orally acknowledging what his friend had said, he got up and left the common room.

Not having a destination in mind, the blonde walked mindlessly. _I horrify her. _He felt something rise in his throat, he ran to the nearest bathroom which was luckily deserted at the moment. He urgently forced open the door to the closest bathroom stall which closed by itself by the force. Draco's legs gave up and he fell to the ground, grabbed the toilet basin and threw up. It felt as if his insides were being emptied; when he had finished throwing up, he felt a sense of relief as he had if he had disposed of the guilt.

* * *

Hermione laid with her book on the sofa of the common room as she read her book; she waited for her fiery-haired friend to get ready for the dinner. During the Gryffindor tryouts, she had decided that she would attend the dinner whether the blonde Slytherin attended or not. The only reason left not wanting to attend was due to the slug club not being something she enjoyed.

The witch's attention shifted when she heard someone enter the common room, through the portrait hole, the Fifth year, Dennis Creevey had entered. Just like Hermione, the wizard was muggleborn; seeing the younger boy she thought of his older brother Colin Creevey who had died in the battle. She had not seen Dennis since her Sixth year, she had not been close with him as he had been annoying as followed Harry around a lot.

'Dennis,' she called his name which immediately caught his attention, the witch made room for him on the sofa and he hesitantly joined her. Now that he was closer, she realised how much he had grown since his First year. He had been the smallest boy in his year, maybe even Hogwarts but he had grown and was Hermione's height, his hair was still a mousy brown like his brother. 'How have you been?'

'It's been hard, you know with the battle,' he nodded while speaking as if he had rehearsed his answer. Her heart ached for the young wizard, losing a brother at the age of 14 must have been difficult for him, especially coming from the Muggle World.

'How's being back at Hogwarts?' she tried to change the subject as she did not want to force the boy to speak about his deceased brother.

'I tried out for Seeker today,' he smiled but his eyes were sparkling as if tears were threatening to fall. 'Colin always wanted me to try out of the Quidditch team. He said one of us should and decided it should be me and he would take pictures,' they both chuckled at his memory but stopped at the call of his name.

'Creevey,' at the entrance of the girls' dormitory, Ginny had appeared. 'Lucky, I found you. You're our new Seeker,' she smiled. The boy jumped over the sofa and hugged the Captain.

'Thank you, Ginny. Thank you, thank yo-,' Hermione laughed at the two while Ginny was trying to break free from the boy's hug.

'I think you meant Captain,' she jokingly said.

'Yes, Captain,' he added brightly and ran off to his dormitory. The redhead looked at her friend.

'Shall we go?'

The two walked down the marble stairs on their way to the sixth floor.

'I think it's great Dennis is on the team,' the bushy-haired witch added casually.

'Yeah… when I saw him, I was thinking of how I was going to turn him down, having lost a brother,' the younger witch sighed as Hermione placed her hand on her shoulder. She too was mourning like the young wizard having lost her older brother, Fred. She regained herself and continued, 'thankfully, he was really good. He's quite light, I think he'll make a great Seeker. Can't wait to see Malfoy's face when Dennis catches the Snitch.' They both laughed but continued walking until they had arrived outside Slughorn's office.


	6. 6 Her Book

The first weekend of October had finally arrived, the Gryffindors were coddled up in the large circular common room, keeping themselves warm as the first cold gust had arrived at Hogwarts. The brightest witch of her age, Hermione Granger was in her favourite armchair in front of the fire; the book she had been reading was open, lying face down on the floor.

She had been thinking of the Slug Club meeting, the prior weekend. The witch was certain that she had used up all her Gryffindor courage to attend, but the blonde Slytherin had not even bothered to attend. At the moment, she had been exasperated and had considered demanding Zabini to force the blonde to arrive. The rest of the night had been like any average Slug Club get-together, boring and McLaggen boasting about himself to Slughorn.

Now, she was watching as Dean Thomas, re-enacting how Ginny had thrown the Quaffle precisely in McLaggen's face during practice this morning. The brawny built Keeper, with dark sandy hair, frowned from the other armchair opposite Hermione as the Chaser acted out how McLaggen had plummeted to the ground from his broom. Everyone was more amused by the dark-skinned wizard's outstanding acting skills, rather than the fact that the strongly built Keeper had fallen because of his female Captain, who had an amazing throw. The laughter changed into applause when fiery-haired Weasley walked into the common room through the portrait hole.

'You! In my dorm, now!' Ginny Weasley had pointed at Hermione and then charged up the spiral stairs to her dormitory. All the Gryffindors were gaping at the pointed-out witch. Ignoring the looks, she got up from her armchair and marched up the spiral staircase.

She knocked before entering the dormitory even though her presence had been demanded. Inside, her younger friend was sitting at the foot of her four-poster bed, her bright brown eyes staring back at Hermione. The bushy-haired laid next to her friend, staring at the roof of the bed.

'What happened?' The war heroine knew that the Gryffindors had assumed that she had caused their Quidditch Captain's temper, but Hermione knew better. She knew that the redhead just needed to vent.

'Not to sound selfish, but I preferred when the Slytherins only bothered _you_,' Ginny emphasized the last word, now also lying on the bed. Hermione chuckled at her response.

'What do you mean? The Slytherins have troubled _both_ of us, our entire life,' the older witch countered, not understanding what the younger witch was on about.

'I mean lately,' Ginny clarified, and Hermione had an insinuation that she knew what the youngest Weasley had implied. 'I thought you were paranoid when you said the Slytherins follow you, but today…'

'Which one followed you?' Hermione was now seated, studying the resting redhead. It was unpleasant to think she was being monitored every day but the fact, that the serpents were following Ginny, she would not allow. The younger witch seemed to have realised that this had had a much greater effect on Hermione that she had expected and thought it would be better to stay quiet; they both stared back at each other. 'I said, "which one followed you?"'

'Zabini,' she reluctantly said. 'After practice, I had a feeling ─ like you've been telling ─ and I quickly turned and raised my wand and well, there he was. Almost hexed the prat.'

'You should've,' she muttered through her teeth. At the present moment, Hermione preferred that the Slytherins go back to their old selves, but she was aware that this would in no way favour them. 'I am positive Malfoy is somehow involved in this.'

'What do you mean "somehow"?' Ginny furrowed her brows at the statement. 'Clearly, he's in involved. Those cronies of his don't do anything if they aren't ordered to. Why would you even think that?'

'He's the only one that hasn't been watching me,' she said questionably, thinking if she had perhaps missed his cold grey eyes staring at her. The only instances she could remember was during classes occasionally, but those had not been stares, they were inevitable glances. No one can ignore someone so persistently even she had glanced at him from time to time, not because she desired to, but simply because he existed.

'He is a conceited pureblood; he probably thinks his eyes are "too pure" to lay eyes on a Muggleborn. Which is _not_ true, if anything he shouldn't have the right to look at you cause' of the foul things, he has done.'

'Gin, he isn't like that,' she quietly opposed, she was not looking at Ginny anymore, but she could sense her alarmed expression.

'Hermione, are you mad? I don't care if he had his little moments in the war that doesn't mean his beliefs have changed,' the younger witch raged.

'Stop,' she calmly objected. Hermione considered what to say, trying to rationalise her thoughts. 'I know, he's linked to this situation, I just─ don't know how, but he has changed,' she now glanced and saw Ginny's brown eyes widen in disbelief, Hermione raised her hand, preventing her friend from interrupting. 'You weren't there. He protected us. And yes, he watched as I… but what could he have done?' The redhead sat up and wrapped her arms around the bushy-haired witch's waist. As much as Hermione did not want to associate herself with the blonde Slytherin, she truly believed that he had left his old beliefs.

'I trust you,' she replied not asking any follow-up questions, knowing that the muggleborn had been talking about the Skirmish at Malfoy Manor. 'But you've endured so much more than the rest of us, and I am always here to look after you. But I don't believe his values have changed, just because he doesn't express it, doesn't mean he changed.'

Hermione smiled, 'I'm older, shouldn't I be looking out for you,' the two laughed and stayed in the dormitory for the next few hours, talking like they would do in the Burrow when sharing a bedroom.

* * *

Monday had arrived and instead of being in Great Hall with rest of the students to eat; in a secluded alcove, somewhere on the fifth floor, Draco sat with a random book he had found lying on the floor of the library. He had randomly opened the book on a page and noticed it was handwritten, perhaps a journal? He flicked back to the first page; no name was written neither was there on the last page. The book was of black leather and there was a white feather in between two pages, indicating where the owner had last written. Intrigued by the journal, diary or whatever it was he flicked to the first page but hastily closed it. _Should I?_ The blonde grimaced at his own hesitation, when had he ever cared?

The concern for someone else's property was new, was he really changing for the greater good? He sighed, thinking how concern for someone's possessions would affect the greater good. 'There you are,' the sound of his friend is what finally brought him back to reality. He saw Theo adjust his spectacles as he approached. 'I came to tell you─ wait, you weren't at lunch?' Draco gave him a guilty look at the fact that he had gotten caught. He was not feeling too hungry today. 'Here,' his friend had retrieved an apple from his bag and threw it at Draco who caught it.

'Is there a point for your presences?' he asked rather uninterested, others would have perceived this a disrespectful comment but the two were raised in Pureblood families and were brought up the same way. The two had an understanding like no other.

'Well, obviously. You think I'd come here willingly?' he said as he scrutinised their surroundings with scornful expression plastered on his face. 'Merlin, it's hot up here,' he loosened his tie as if he would die of the heat. Theo, however, just preferred the coldness of the Slytherin dungeons, while the past few weeks the blonde had preferred anything but the coldness of the dungeons due to feeling nauseous. 'Saw Granger at lunch.'

Draco kept looking at Theo as if the words had not affected him at all, he took quiet, deep breaths, trying not to show what impact the witch had on him. He was certain that Theo and the others knew, otherwise the sneaking around and reporting to him was plain pointless. He directed his attention to his apple and took a bite before his façade could falter.

The blonde told himself as soon as the nightmares stopped, so would the prying; he could not even imagine how the Gryffindor would react if she realised what was going on. He had concluded that for the nightmares to stop, he had to get used to her presence, get used to the trigger, as Theo had called it. It was if he was taking a small dose of poison until it did not affect him.

'She seems to be adjusting much better,' he took another bite. 'Was laughing with the Gryffindor bunch, but still not taking much space.'

'She never does,' Draco seemed to have surprised himself, he had not intended to answer, but he subconsciously had. His response had him reminiscing the past, every encounter in the corridors with Potter and Weasley had been insults thrown back and forth. Granger, however, had always been present but still blended into the background. It was not an epiphany, but he realised that the muggleborn was not one to bring attention to herself, almost introverted. 'Anything else?'

'No,' his friends narrowed his eyes, making sure he had not left anything out. 'Nothing, shall we head to Charms?'

After the Slytherins had finished all the classes for the day, they found themselves at the library, trying to finish up their homework. Next to Draco, Blaise had peacefully been studying until he jumped and hid behind his chair. Pansy and Theo who were on the opposite side of the table, stood up to see their friend cowering behind a chair. The blonde was, however, looking at the bookshelves behind Pansy and Theo, between the books he could see bright red hair, a Weasley trait. 'You're unbelievable,' the blonde rolled his eyes at his frightened friend.

Blaise glanced to make sure the ginger was out of view before he started yelling, 'I'm "unbelievable?" She wasn't about to hex you twice in one week!' At his exclamation, Pansy and Theo were also aware, who had frightened the jitters out of the wizard. The female Slytherin had been about to add something, most likely some jealous comment about Weasley but was interrupted by the fast, approaching of clicking heels and there in front of the four, the librarian, Madam Pince had appeared.

'Mr Zabini! Are you not aware that you are present in a library?' she asked rather loudly, but no was going to point that out, she was the librarian and they merely followed her rules. Not letting have Blaise a moment to explain himself, Madam Pince had taken a hold of his arm. 'Let us see what your Head of House thinks of this behaviour,' and in a matter of moments, she had dragged Blaise away. Draco and his two remaining friends let of the loud laughter they had been holding.

* * *

During dinner, Hermione had eaten as fast as possible when she had realised her one of her books were missing from her bag. Trying to stay composed, she decided to check her dormitory before getting worked up completely.

Throwing all rationality to the wind, she pushed open the dormitory room and ran to her nightstand, she opened the only drawer in it and rummaged, trying to find the book. There was barely anything in the drawer, but she hoped it would magically appear the more she rummaged through. Nothing. Her hands were trembling in panic, she fumbled, trying to open her trunk. She clenched her hands a few times and successfully opened the filled trunk. She forcefully shoved clothes, parchments, quills and small items. She then took out all the books from the trunk and even quickly skimmed through the pages as if the book's cover had changed. The last book, she threw onto the bed, she pulled her hair back and tied it up as if it had been blocking her view.

Her right hand was on her face as she hid tears falling down even if no one was present, the hand on her face was twitching slightly. Her legs were trembling and instead of falling to the ground, she moved to her four-poster bed. She closed all the curtains and wrapped her arms around her legs, as she cried herself to sleep. The witch biggest fear now was someone discovering her book in which she had written in during the summer. The summer, when she had been coping with the trauma of the war.


	7. 7 Her Book II

Wednesday morning, Hermione Granger woke up to a clicking sound, it was quite familiar, but she could not distinguish where she had heard it before. Her hair was mostly concealing her face, but rays of the sun still shined through; she groaned trying to open her eyes. She covered her eyes with her hand but hissed when her elbow hit a hard surface. She furrowed; eyes still closed. Was she not in her four-poster bed?

Her eyes fluttered open, in front of her was a wooden table, she was in a chair. The clicking continued. The library. Knowing her surroundings, she recognised the clicking sound; Madam Pince. And it was not the sound of her walking but her impatiently tapping her foot. The witch shot up from her chair, not meeting the eyes of the librarian.

'About time you woke up Miss Granger,' she said strictly. 'You do know there's a curfew which excludes sleeping in the library?'

'I do know,' she answered the older witch's rhetorical questioning, as she sorted her thoughts; having just awakened. 'I really didn't mean to break curfew, I just happened to fall asleep.'

'Well, this can be dealt with later, you shouldn't miss breakfast,' Hermione was surprised that Madam Pince had not dragged her to McGonagall yet, but she thought she almost saw the stern librarian smile.

Hermione made her way to the Great Hall, her mind filled with thoughts. She rubbed her face still drowsy, then tied her hair with the ribbon in her pocket. She contemplated going to the dorm to freshen up but had simply lost the will to do it. Ever since she lost her "journal" as her mum called it, she dreaded someone reading the contents of it. Hermione had no idea how she would react if someone got their hands on her book, the thought made her veins fill with anxiety.

A week or so, after she had her first panic attack, her mum had given her the book to write and vent her feelings. Hermione had not wanted physical evidence of her trauma, but she still did as her mum had said. All her feelings were written in the journal and there were even some episodes that had been pure ludicrous that she does not remember writing; scribbles actually.

She seated herself at the Gryffindor table, not caring who was sitting around her. She had no energy to care; her mind was too busy creating different scenarios of someone finding her journal. She was brought back to reality when some younger Gryffindor nudged her on the side.

'I can't believe I am sitting next to _the_ Hermione Jean Granger,' the young wizard peeped. Hermione did not know what to say but suddenly another Gryffindor spoke. And another. Now Ravenclaws and Hufflepuff were gathering around her and Hermione realised what a terrible idea it had been to sit away from her friends. She now felt a pair of hands on the side of her arms, helping her stand from where she had frozen; all she could do now was to scream but someone beat her to it.

'Leave the witch alone!' Hermione looked at her person who had a hold of her, Dean had come to her rescue and next to him was Neville. 'The witch came from some breakfast, not some interview, alright?' Hermione did not look towards the students; her eyes were glued on Dean. She still, could not grasp the situation, now both her friends were helping her out of the crowd, out the Great Hall.

'You alright, 'Mione?' Neville spoke.

Hermione looked up at her two friends before her legs caved and she dropped to the ground, clutching her tie as if it was preventing her from breathing properly. 'Oi, careful now,' Dean said, who had crouched to floor afraid the witch had fallen.

'Just a bit overwhelmed,' she smiled at them, I think I need should freshen up before class starts,' and with that, she left the two wizards.

* * *

Draco Malfoy found himself in the tallest tower of the castle. The Astronomy Tower. His legs dangled off the edge, his arms dangling from the bottom row of the railing. The Astronomy tower was a place he found himself a lot during his 7th Year when death eaters had control over the school. He felt relaxed, so far from the ground but it was also traumatic, the late headmaster had died at this location.

He despised that he also felt pride in being at the tower, he had in the end not killed Albus Dumbledore, but it was his deceased godfather, Severus Snape. But in the back of his mind, there was a worry, what if Snape had not arrived? What if he killed the headmaster? Frustration grew inside him; he got up, his hands on the top railing. He screamed, as loud as he could, releasing the frustration.

He took deep breaths as he looked over the Hogwarts grounds; the sun was setting, different colours were exposed in front of him, fusing into each other. He gazed from east to west slowly, he did not look away until something white by his side caught his eye. On the floor, his bag was lying and inside it, a book stuck out with the whitest feather in between the pages. Remembering the journal, he had found a few days ago, he sat down and opened it.

Instead of reading it from the middle how he usually read books, he decided that starting from the beginning would help him figure out… what did he want to find out? He flipped to the first entry and started reading.

_The only reason I write in this is because mum told me to. I missed her and dad. I was so afraid last year if I would ever see them again. When mum cried after realising what I had done to protect them, I felt as if I had disappointed her. Oh, and when dad cried that hurt so much, I have never seen him cry. As angry as I felt when they distanced me from my friends, I could not burden them with my anger. I understood them and I never want to go against them. I never know when my or their last minute of life will be. But I will take care of them until then. I will keep them happy, I never want to see a tear forming in their eyes. We will be happy, I promise._

_Your daughter._

It was not until Draco looked up at the sunset did he realise he had been crying. He raised his hand to his cheeks, they were wet. He snickered, had he really cried reading some letter to some witch's parents? He empathised with the unknown witch, wanting to take care of her parents especially during the war, that had been the reason he had obeyed the Dark Lord.

But that was not what had made the blonde cry, he envied her more than anything. Based off of the letter it seemed that the witch had loving parents. A loving family. The envy was overwhelming, he felt so much and understood so little. Why did he have to be born into such a horrible family? But then he would not have been pureblood, did he want that? He sighed, would he want to give up being pureblood for a better family, parents and childhood? Trying to ignore the dilemma, he looked back at the page.

He had so many questions, what had the witch done to protect her parents and how bad could it had been? Why did the parents distance their daughter from her friends?

As curious as he was, Draco did not think he could manage reading more of the journal's content at the moment, if the rest was as powerfully emotional as the first entry. He took out the white feather and put it between the first and second entry, to indicate where to continue next time.

* * *

Hermione found herself in the library with some of her closest friends, Ginny, Neville and Luna. They had finished all their classes and were currently doing homework together. Her mind still on her book she decided it was time to ask if her friends had stumbled upon it.

'Have you guys seen a book? Black leather with a white feather in the pages?' she asked, gaining their attention.

'Have you lost one?' Luna asked her eyes still on her divination book.

'Well, yes,' Hermione responded, thinking it had been obvious.

'You better find it before Madam Pince realises it's missing,' Neville added, concerned for the bushy-haired witch.

Hermione chewed her bottom lip nervously, 'Oh, it's my book,' she said shortly not wanting to explain the details.

'Did you check the common room?' Ginny asked she seemed to be thinking if she had seen a book that fit the description. Hermione nodded in response. 'Well, Hogwarts is big, so it might be difficult. I'll keep a lookout though.' Neville nodded in response and Luna gazed around the library as if she might spot it.

'Thanks,' Hermione said uneasily. She immediately regretted not keeping up the non-concerned façade, she knew the Gryffindor Captain would notice.

'Is it an important book?' Hermione's toes curled up; how could she had been so careless. She peeked up at Ginny, who was on the opposite side of the table. Her hair concealed her face and she knew that Neville and Luna could not see her facial expressions unless she looked directly at them. She grimaced at her, hoping Ginny would somehow understand that the book was related to her panic attacks. Ginny, however, grimaced back not understanding what the older witch had been doing.

'Lost your book, have you, Granger?' All four looked up to see Theodore Nott, adjusting his glasses. Hermione was suddenly holding her breath. _Shit. Shit. Shit._ If Nott knew, he would tell the other Slytherins including Malfoy, Hermione concluded. Before she could think of a response, Ginny spoke up.

'Were you listening to our conversation?' she almost yelled but knew better than to yell in the library. Hermione thought Nott's carefree expression would falter but he merely shifted his gaze from her to Ginny.

'For your information, _Weasley_. I was just simply passing by and happen to overhear Granger,' he ran his hand through his hair. 'Also, it sounded oddly familiar. I'm certain I've seen it. Don't remember when or where. That's all.' He flicked his hand as if indicating he was leaving. Hermione's heartbeat rose, what if he had it? Or another Slytherin. Without thinking, she acted.

'Nott!' he halted and slowly turned to stare back at Hermione. She got up and walked up to him. 'For once forget I am a muggleborn. A mudblood,' the cruel word is what finally got to the Slytherin, his gaze changed but he quickly composed himself. 'If you know where it is or who has it, tell me.'

He just continued staring at her. They stood still for a while just staring at each other, and Hermione had never been so patient before. She glanced away when she heard someone rise from their chair, behind her Neville had joined.

'You better tell her before I hex you,' Neville said bravely, the boy that had once been scared of Slytherins was standing up to one for her. Neville was the same height as Nott, but he was broader and would most likely win if the two were to fight. Nott only chuckled in response.

'War really does change a person, doesn't it, Longbottom?' he said, it almost seemed as Nott meant it as a compliment. 'Besides, I said all I know, remember? "It sounded oddly familiar. I'm certain I've seen it. Don't remember when or where. That's all",' he repeated, he glanced at Hermione and then left.

* * *

Draco opened his eyes and alarmingly, started looking; trying to identify his surroundings. The common room, he had been sleeping in an armchair. The room was deserted; it was night, the Slytherins were asleep in the dormitories. Realising he had seen another nightmare, he closed his eyes, leaning back in the armchair.

The nightmare had been horrid like all the previous ones, but it was as if they had slowly gotten worse. In the nightmare, Bellatrix had yet again killed the famous muggleborn, Hermione Granger. But it had been slow. His deceased aunt had used a dagger and had cut slits all over the witch and had pressed the wounds, so they hurt and bled more. And Draco, had been sitting in a chair. Not any chair, the most beautiful chair in the Malfoy Manor which the Dark Lord himself had used as a throne. He had been in the so-called throne, watching as the witch had gotten tortured to death.

Breathing deeply. He opened his eyes, searching for his bag as he ran a hand through his hair. He hurried to the table, where the bag was and retrieved the mystery witch's journal.

Not caring why, he wanted to read it immediately after a nightmare, he went back to his armchair and continued reading from where he last left out. He took out the feather and put it on the table on his side.

_I am scared. I have not slept properly in a while. Every time I shut my eyes, I am allowing my mind to replay the war. I wanted to explain it to mum, but I did not have to. Both mum and dad hugged me until they thought I fell asleep. The hug was nice but still, images of my friends dying in front of me was scary. No hug can help me face death. Death is scary, you never know when it is lurking around the corner. But still, I risked my life with my friends to defeat Voldemort and then we did not care if we died. Everyone knew the risk and so did I. But why do I feel so guilty? _

Draco made his way to the dormitory and laid in his bed. The book under his pillow in case he woke up from another nightmare. Was it a coincidence that the entry had been so similar to his current situation? The witch had her way with words, they were calming. And it was if she understood him. She somehow made his confused thoughts into understandable words. That night Draco went to bed not caring if a nightmare of the bushy-haired witch.


	8. 8 Acceptance

Draco sighed as he recognised the mulberry walls of the chamber, he yet again found himself in the drawing-room of the Malfoy Manor. He was seated; he looked down at the dark wooden throne-like seat in which the Dark Lord himself had once sat. He observed his hands, resting in his lap; the darkness of the room and throne made it appear as if his complexion was radiating light.

The blonde looked up when he heard a familiar clicking, he turned towards the entrance; another light had entered. His Mother. Draco somehow felt as if her light had weakened. He watched as Narcissa Malfoy strolled towards him; a tray in her hands with a silver chalice on it. His mother halted in front of him, her eyes on the tray and not him; as if a servant. Draco admired his mother's long blonde hair, but it was her eyes, he wished to see.

'Mother,' he said hoarsely as if he had not spoken in ages. Her eyes slowly moved from the chalice to meet his. Her blue eyes that had always been filled with love for him were empty. He stared at her blue orbs; any emotions she had had were gone. 'Mother?' he asked, not sure who the woman in front of him was.

'Draco,' she whispered. Draco's heart dropped, falling down an endless pit. He had never desired to cry more, his mother who was the only comfort in his life seemed to not recognise him. She seemed to have no power over herself; it was as if she was under the imperius curse. All he wanted was to hug her and be comforted but, how could she? When she felt nothing for him. 'Drink.'

He reached the chalice and inspected the red contents. Wine. His mother was no longer looking at him. He drank and drank until the chalice was empty. Only when he finished did he realise it had not been wine; he began coughing.

'Their existence is pointless,' the voice came from in front of him, where his mother had been standing moments ago. Instead, his mother's oldest sister, his deceased aunt, Bellatrix was in front of him. Draco's eyes narrowed, he despised Bellatrix with his entire being. He wanted to shout at the witch, but no sound came out. 'I supposed that their corpse would at least be useful, but they don't even taste decent.'

Draco furrowed his eyebrows; the woman's words were even preposterous in his mind. _What is she on about_? It was as if he had spoken the words aloud as the answer was dragged into the chamber. His mother had come in, now wearing a long white dress, it was covered in red. _Blood_. She was hauling something along the floor; a body. Only when his mother let go of the body in front of him did he know who it was. Hermione Granger. He wished her big bushy hair had covered her face as the girl in front of him was hideous, blood was oozing out her mouth and her face looked completely deformed. The rest of her body was covered with fresh wounds; blood was seeping out. It was then he grasped, he had been drinking _her blood_.

Draco opened his eyes, he had not spared a second to breathe, he ran as fast as his legs could take him at the moment. He opened the door to the dormitory bathroom and dropped at the nearest toilet; emptying his stomach. He vomited for a long time, every time the picture of the muggleborn witch had appeared, he vomited more and more. With the back of his left hand, he wiped off excess vomit from his lips. He was leaning against a wall as he deeply breathed.

Trying to stay rational and ignore what he had seen, Draco got up and decided to shower. He threw off his clothes and turned on the shower. The water was hot, burning his skin, he hoped it would burn the nightmare out of his mind, but he kept replaying it. Fortunately, he did not vomit more as there was nothing left inside of him to empty. Draco pulled his hair back as hard as he could, trying to find a solution. He and his friends had tried to normalise the muggleborn's presence since they had arrived at Hogwarts but why were the nightmare getting worse? This was his first time vomiting after a nightmare.

He got out of the shower and changed into his uniform. The male Slytherins were asleep in their beds, he glanced out the window; the lake was slightly illuminated, it had to be very early. Draco grabbed his bag and left the dormitory. He considered getting some food but thought it was pointless as he would most likely throw up. The corridors of the castle were empty, the students were asleep. Draco left the castle, making his way to Black Lake as he watched the sunrise.

He could not quite see the sun as it still had not risen over the mountains, but he could see the light and colours ascending from behind the eastern mountains. He laid down by the lake and admired how the colours of the sunrise would soon spread and become a clear blue. Draco fingered the tip of the grass as he continued looking at the sky; the clouds were particularly white in the west as the sky above was still dark. The whiteness reminded him of a feather.

He sat up and pulled out the black journal from his bag. Draco opened the book where the white feather was placed before he could take it out, he saw the contents of the page. If you could draw out the mind of a mentally distressed person, it would be what Draco was seeing on the page. It was not words or drawings but madness. It was as if the witch had not thought but moved her hand over the page not caring at all. He could not tell what made the page different from any child's drawing, but it was. Before him, he saw pain, confusion, lunacy.

The page made Draco feel uncomfortable, the next page was yet again these ludicrous scribbles and so were the next five pages. He furrowed, what mad witch's journal had he gotten a hold of?

* * *

Hermione walked up the white marble stairs, she had eaten breakfast and made her way to the Charms classroom. She had consistently been early to classes during the past month as being on time would mean a lot of students wanting to speak to her about the war and Harry, and she was quite frankly done with it.

The muggleborn was not one that paid attention to things that did not concern her but the past few days she had been inspecting everyone especially the Gryffindors as one student had her journal. Hermione had been observing her surroundings so attentively that she had spotted a certain group of Slytherins lurking around the corners more than usual. It was strange that she had not picked up on their presence before because they had not been discreet, to begin with.

There had been instances, where she had been eating and suddenly, three pairs of eyes were staring at her. Hermione had probably seen more of the Slytherins in the past few days than she had in years and it made her uneasy. Losing her journal and being concerned about the Slytherins had been a distraction for her. She had not thought back to war as her thoughts were occupied enough but she was not enjoying the distractions either. She was simply stressed and wanted to be reassured but she did not want to burden anyone. Hermione could go to Ginny for reassurance, but she did not want to share any more than the redhead already knew.

Hermione groaned and then continued to rub her temples; she wanted to switch her mind off, it was overbearing. She opened the door to the Charms classroom and only when she entered had she realised that the classroom was not empty. The witch had expected to see three _empty_ rows of desks but instead, two students were occupying seats in the back row.

She had not needed a moment to recognise the students, him with the palest shade of blonde hair and her with the deepest shade of black hair; Draco Malfoy and Pansy Parkinson. Pansy had simply met Hermione's eyes but when Malfoy had spotted her, he had rested his head on his desk, avoiding her. She swiftly turned back towards the door, only imagining being alone with the two Slytherins was suffocating.

To her dismay, another pair of students entered, preventing her from leaving. Theodore Nott and Blaise Zabini. She had an urge to scream, she did not need to be with the four alone and if she left now, it would prove to them that they had something over her.

'Leaving are you, Granger?' Zabini asked as he cocked an eyebrow. Hermione had a stern expression plastered over her face; they could not think they had something over her.

Nott scoffed at the statement, 'Granger leaving class before it begins? That's laughable.' She simply rolled her eyes at the two and seated herself in the front row, as far away from the door.

Hermione rested her folded arms on her desk and the laid the side of her head against her arms. She closed her eyes as she listened to the steps of Nott and Zabini making it to the back of the classroom. 'Mate, we missed you at breakfast,' she heard Zabini, she presumed it was directed at Malfoy as he had arrived with Nott.

'Again,' Nott added, Hermione furrowed. Malfoy had been skipping breakfast, she remembered the last time he had done so was when he had helped the Death Eaters into Hogwarts. A chill went down her back, that had been the starting point of the war. She thought back to the breakfasts where she had caught Malfoy's cronies watching her, had he not been there? His blonde hair that stuck out in crowds where nowhere to be seen in her memories.

Hermione continued to listen; did she feel bad for eavesdropping? Not at all, her curiosity had peaked, and she thought it was fair as Nott had done the same in the library despite his claim. Malfoy did not respond. 'I'm sick of this,' Pansy's light voice spoke. 'We ask you something and you're not going to answer? I really thought this would end after.'

'Pansy!' Nott had interrupted her midsentence, Hermione heard him clear his throat, lowering his voice. Pansy had been about to mention the war that had been bothering her for some time. It felt familiar, that was how Hermione felt but she was not going to be careless and blow like the female Slytherin had. 'Here, eat this at least.'

Hermione heard a crunching sound; an apple, a pear? She found it odd that Nott happened to have a fruit with him. Just listening to the Slytherins was weird, they seemed… humane. They cared for each other like any group of friends, how bad had they had it in the past? And how come Hermione had never seen this side of the Slytherins in the past seven years?

* * *

Instead of attending lunch, Draco stormed off to the common room. He had been hungry for once and thought he needed something because he could barely focus during Charms and Ancient Runes but had decided against it. Not only did he not have the energy to pay attention, but Pansy's words were also engraved in his brain. He completely understood what his friends had gone through when he had become a Death Eater, and everything should have changed after the war, but it had not yet. Draco once again felt guilty towards his friends because they once again had to deal with his silence.

He sat in an armchair in front of the many portraits as he contemplated what to say to his friends. 'Can't you shut that mouth of yours up for two seconds. Honestly, I've never seen such a poor mannered pureblood witch,' he heard Theo say, he had entered the common room. The sentence sounded directed at Pansy and that it was.

'Oh, I am sorry that I for once spoke my mind in the past seven years!' she yelled back at Theodore. Draco got up from the armchair and revealed himself to them. Blaise had been standing behind the two and it seemed as if he had decided to stay quiet not wanting to pick a side and make matters worse. 'Draco,' Pansy said apologetically as if her stating her opinion was going against him.

'I know that I can be reticent, and you've taken it upon yourself to take care of me,' Draco started, his eyes glued at their feet. He took a deep breath, 'but for the love of Merlin, don't talk about these things when Granger's around.' His eyes met Pansy's, he spoke as he slowly walked up to her,' if you want to complain, yell, or whatever, I'm fine with it. But do you realise she had it worse than any of us?'

Draco, who was now right in front of Pansy glared at her but there was so much guilt and pain in his glare that it took away the essence of a glare. 'She's not here now,' she began. 'I know you feel guilty to the point where you're torturing yourself but don't talk as if she's the only one that went through hell, _okay_?' Pansy's volume was slightly getting higher, she was irritated. 'I know what she went through is beyond my imagination, but I know what I went through was real too. I know what Theo and Blaise went through was real as well. Our battles have been going on ever since we were brought into this world, don't forget that.'

Draco did not interrupt her and neither had Theo or Blaise, they all listened patiently. 'You saw a glimpse of what she went through that night, and you might have made poor choices and therefore think your pain doesn't matter,' Draco filled with worry and confusion when he saw tears form in his female friend's eyes. Pansy had never been one to cry when hurting, seeing her tears he knew she had reached her limit. 'But Draco…we did the same, we hid our pain because you had it worse and the consequence of that is that I was mentally torturing myself, convincing myself that I had it better than most. Don't make the same mistake, acknowledge what you did, and only then can we help you move on.'

Before Draco could react, Blaise had already pulled Pansy into a hug, he patted the back of her as she quietly sobbed into his chest. Draco looked over to Theo who stood frozen, staring at the floor. Draco wished he could go back in time, change his friends' past, but how could he change them from being born into pureblood families who taught them to belittle muggleborns or else they would be abused for being a blood traitor? But at least they had each other but that was until Draco became a Death Eater and distanced himself. His friends who had not known at the time, had worried for him. They had cared for him, had ignored their battles because Draco had needed them, and he had not known until now. He had worsened their pain by suffering alone; if he could go back in time, he would make sure they never became friends because he only inflicted pain on others.

The sound of Pansy's sniffling broke Draco away from his thoughts. He replayed her words; he had understood her but what she did not understand is that he deserved the pain and guilt, and that was when it clicked in his subconsciousness. _The nightmares._ He wanted to be punished and therefore, at rest when he was most peaceful, he had nightmares. It was then Draco accepted that he would be haunted by nightmares for eternity because he would _never_ forgive himself.


	9. 9 A Nearing Storm

It was an October evening after dinner, Hermione was supposed to be in the library studying but had decided to call it an early night. She laid in her four-poster bed as she stared up at the wooden ceiling of the bed. Hogwarts had always been one of Hermione's favourite places in the Wizarding World but after the war, the school had lost its charm or maybe she had lost interest.

Hermione had recently begun doubting her decision, maybe it had been wiser to accept the Ministry's offer to become an Auror. The idea had been to complete her education before accepting a job offer but her determination to study had lessened ever since the loss of her journal. She was anxious that she would be ruined if someone read her journal. She was not worried that she would ruin her image as the "War Heroine" but was rather scared that she would ruin herself.

The Slytherins had also crawled into her thoughts more than she preferred, it seemed that she saw them more and more with every passing day. It was unsettling and her friends had also begun noticing. Hermione loudly groaned into her pillow. 'Bad time?' she heard from the entrance of the dormitory; Ginny had entered.

'No, not at all,' Hermione yawned and sat up, making room for Ginny on her bed. Her fiery-haired friend sat down, and Hermione instantly laid her head in her lap. 'Has school always been so difficult?' she complained with a pout, she felt a hand massage her scalp.

'You're joking, right? If _the_ Hermione Granger is struggling, what hope is there for the rest of us,' Ginny joked, followed by laughter. Hermione turned to look straight up at the Gryffindor Captain and wore an expression that said, "I'm serious". Ginny giggled at her older friend before regaining herself, 'Okay, okay. What's the matter?'

Hermione fidgeted as she rearranged her thoughts. 'Remember the book I lost? It's my journal…post-war journal,' she clarified. Ginny's mouth opened in realisation, and then let out a groan.

'Why didn't you tell me earlier?' she exclaimed and lightly smacked Hermione in the back of the head. 'I can only imagine what you're telling yourself inside that big brain of yours.'

'Sorry, I've just had a lot on mind. You know, with the Slytherins and everything,' Hermione sighed. 'Oh,' she gasped in remembrance. 'I forgot to tell you. I heard them talking the other day, Malfoy apparently isn't eating…again.' At her last statement, Ginny pushed Hermione off her lap to sit.

Ginny scoffed, 'Malfoy is definitely scheming something. Trust me on this,' she said as it was the most obvious explanation. 'Wait here,' and with that, she ran out of the dormitory. Ginny returned quickly, with a parchment in her hand which Hermione immediately recognised. The Marauder's Map. 'I solemnly swear that I am up to no good,' Ginny had tapped her wand on the parchment and now the map of Hogwarts and everyone in the castle appeared.

'Look! They're in the library,' Hermione pointed at Nott and Parkinson's name. 'I was supposed to study there tonight!'

'They know your routine, that's disturbing,' Ginny said her thoughts out loud. 'Zabini is strolling around the fifth floor. He might be hoping to run into you…' she furrowed her eyebrows, contemplating. 'Actually, what if they're trying to avoid you?'

'That makes no sense.'

'Hear me out, maybe they're not scheming against you, maybe they're making sure you don't interfere with their schemes. You are the war heroine after all.' Ginny explained, Hermione chewed her bottom lip as she considered Ginny's conclusion. Her thoughts were cut when Ginny pointed at the Slytherin common room on the map. 'Look, Malfoy's just sitting in the common room. I bet all of Harry's fortune that he can't do anything himself.'

* * *

In the morning Draco made his way to the Great Hall, it had been a while since he had last gone. Having accepted that the nightmares would not stop, he decided to eat. He had initially found it purposeless as he would most likely vomit but thought he would do it for his friends' sake. He had been about to bring a slice of bread to his mouth but was interrupted by a shriek of joy.

Suddenly, Pansy was next to him, smiling brightly which he had not seen in a long time. 'You're eating!' she exclaimed. It was only then Draco noticed that Theo and Blaise were also there. Seeing him eat, Blaise immediately pulled him into a hug.

'Mate,' he said as he hugged Draco harder.

'Blaise, he might die from suffocation if you don't stop,' Theo had seated himself. Draco could not help smiling as he saw Theo slouch as if the weight of worrying for Draco had been lifted. 'Guess I won't have to carry these around anymore,' Theo said as he took out five apples from his bag.

Draco scoffed as his best friend, 'I wouldn't mind a few apples throughout the day.'

'Get them yourself, you prat,' Theo retorted, a smirk plastered over his face. Draco now brought his slice of bread to his mouth; he could see from the corner of his eyes that they were all staring at him. He found it uncomfortable but decided not to say anything this once.

They stopped staring after Draco finished his first slice of bread. 'Did you see her last night, Blaise?' Pansy asked. They refrained from using the muggleborn's name when there were other students nearby. The three stared at Blaise waiting for an answer.

'Wasn't she in the library?' he asked Theo, his head tilted in confusion. Theo seemed taken aback when the stares went from Blaise to him.

'No, she never came,' he responded. Draco was disappointed that they had nothing to say about the muggleborn witch. Tailing Granger was needless now as he knew he was causing the nightmares but hearing about the muggleborn witch had become a guilty pleasure. Knowing that Granger was safe, made the nightmares somehow lose its power as a punishment.

'Oh, the next Slug club meeting is next week,' Blaise broke the silence. 'And you're going! D'you know how horrible it is to be surrounded by Gryffindors?'

The three chuckled at Blaise while he glared at Draco. 'Fine, fine. I'll be there,' Draco said biting his smile back.

'You better,' Blaise said as he narrowed his eyes. 'Let's go, we have morning Quidditch practice. We're winning this year!'

After Quidditch practise and his classes, Draco had gone to the Astronomy tower, his muscles sore and his brain overloaded. Not having heard anything about Granger to calm his nerves, he decided to read the mystery witch's journal. He had avoided it for a while as the last time the pages had been completely absurd. Before opening the book where he had left off, he quickly flicked through the pages. He was surprised by the number of psychotic scribbles. Ignoring the pages, he flicked back to the white feather and began reading.

_I hadn't planned to write today. I was just going to read until I fell asleep, but mum thought it was after my episodes I should write. I don't remember anything though, mum told me it was bad. She said that she heard something breaking and I was out of it when she arrived. I didn't tell her about the pages. What went through my mind when I scribbled that? It's psychotic. Mum and dad can't see this, I don't want to worry them anymore. I sometimes imagine how it would be if I never became a witch. I think they wish that too. _

Draco rubbed his temples; he never read books from the beginning but still managed to understand what was happening, but this journal was impossible. He had even started with the first page. He found it annoying how the witch wrote, it was a journal; every detail should be included but it was not.

_Episodes? _Draco thought that if he knew what that was it would make more sense. The witch had been out of it when she had scribbled, and he had not been the only one that thought she was psychotic. He brushed a hand through his hair, he concluded that during these so-called "episodes" the witch was not aware of what she was doing. Draco grimaced at the final sentence, he found it odd that the witch's parents wished that their daughter rather be a squib than a witch. He made a mental note of his observations and flipped to the next page.

_I woke up screaming. It was the final battle, all the people that died were thrown in a pile in front of me. There were so many people, I could only distinguish my friends. I just stared at them as I cried, it was just them and I. Somehow, my parents had arrived, I ran towards them. I was going to hug them but just as I approached a green light flashed by. My parents' corpse fell into my arms and I fell back. I don't want this anymore. I want to end it all._

The witch had had a nightmare similar to him, he found it strange how much he empathised with her. Draco still did not know who the witch was, but he knew that she had been at Hogwarts during the final battle. Whoever she was, it appeared she fought with the Order of the Phoenix. He felt disappointed that the witch fought with the order, that was what made him different from her. The determination to find out who the witch was, had disappeared as she most probably despised him with the rest of the Wizarding World.

* * *

Hermione sat in the Quidditch stands as she watched the Gryffindor team practice, she hoped it would end soon as the sky was slowly getting grey. She could not hear the team speaking but she still managed to hear Ginny yell occasionally. She had mostly been focusing on Dennis, this was Hermione's first time watching the fifth-year play. She had been surprised, he turned out to be a much better player than expected. It was emotional watching the boy, he had lost his brother not too long ago, but he was slowly adjusting back into the Wizarding World.

When practice ended, Hermione went down to the pitch. 'You all were terrific,' she said with a smile to the team.

'The Slytherins are going to lose, they have no idea how good Creevey is,' Ginny said as she patted his shoulder. The team nodded in agreement, while McLaggan scoffed that he had not been praised. 'Tomorrow, same time,' the team left and only Hermione and Ginny remained.

'You're turning into Wood,' Hermione said while sarcastically shaking her head in disappointment.

'Well, he became Puddlemere United's Keeper, so I'll take that as a compliment,' Ginny cocked an eyebrow, followed by a chuckle. 'What are you doing here? I thought you said you would study tonight?

Hermione rolled her eyes, 'I failed. I kept thinking about our conversation from last night.'

'You could always just ask them, why they are following you,' Ginny stated as if it was the simplest task.

Hermione crossed her arms, and mockingly said,' I wonder, why I didn't think of that.'

'Oh, come on. What's the worst that could happen?' Ginny asked. Hermione opened her mouth to answer but immediately closed it. _What was the _worst _that could happen?_ She saw Ginny cock her eyebrow, proving how simple the task really was. 'I think they would be more flustered that you confronted them.'

'I need tea,' Hermione suddenly groaned, she rubbed her temples, her mind was making the situation more difficult than what it was.

'Well, come to think of it, we haven't seen Hagrid,' Ginny suggested.

The two made their way to Hagrid's hut; the sky was dark and covered with big grey clouds. Hermione could not tell when exactly, but she was certain it would rain any day now. The two female Gryffindors neared the edge of the forest and they could now see Hagrid's hut, glowing in the distance. Hermione knocked on the door when they reached.

'Yeah, one minute. Le' me,' Hagrid began but got cut off when something rattled. A minute or so later, the big wooden door opened and in front of them, Hagrid stood. 'Mione! Ginny! Come in, come in,' he stepped aside so that the two witches could enter.

'So sorry, we couldn't visit you earlier Hagrid,' Hermione pouted as she sat down while Hagrid put a pot of tea over the fire.

'Now tha's alright, I knew yer come,' Hagrid reassured the two as he sat down on a vacant chair.

'Heard you became the Head of Gryffindor,' Ginny complimented Hagrid, the two girls could see his cheeks get slightly pink. 'Professor.'

'No, need for tha' when s'just us. It's nice ter hear though. Now, what brings the two of yer here?'

'Nothing, really,' Hermione began. 'I just wanted some tea and we remembered we hadn't visited you, sorry about that,' she apologised again.

'I'm glad ter see yer two,' he said while pouring tea into three cups. 'How're yer two doin'? Anythin' happen recen'ly?'

Hermione and Ginny exchanged a few glances, considering if they should tell Hagrid about the Slytherins. 'It's going great. I became Captain of the Quidditch team,' Ginny brightly answered, not mentioning the Slytherins.

''Course, yer did! Gifted family, I say,' he praised her. 'Better beat 'em Slytherins.' At his last statement, Hermione nodded towards Ginny.

'About that Hagrid…' she started and then proceeded to explain to Hagrid, how the Slytherins had been following Hermione around, afraid they were plotting something.

'Damn those Slytherins,' Hagrid exclaimed causing the table to shake. 'Sorry abou' that. Yer know Hermione, I could brin' it up with the Headmistress,' he informed.

'No!' Hermione suddenly burst; she cleared her throat not having meant yelling. 'There's no need Hagrid. The last thing I need is to cause a scene or infuriate them more.'

Hagrid nodded in understanding, 'I'll take a few points from 'em when I see 'em in the corridors.' The three sat in silence not sure what to say until Hermione decided to change the topic entirely.

'Harry and Ron are attending the Quidditch match,' she mentioned.

'Has been a while since I saw those two. Maybe I should bake somethin',' he made a mental note aloud. Hermione and Ginny exchanged glances, Hagrid's food was not the best, but Harry and Ron would still appreciate the thought. 'The two of yer better be off now, the storm is hard to read, best get back to the castle while dry.'

The two girls nodded, 'we'll be back soon Hagrid,' Ginny said and then they both went back. As they made their way to the castle, Hermione thought long what to do, she wanted to confront the Slytherins but was not sure she had the confidence. She was certain, however, the next time they were brought up, she would lose it.


	10. 10 The Encounter

The next morning, Hermione felt determined; she was going to study in the library before breakfast. She tied her uncontrollable hair into a ponytail before opening a window of the dormitory. Her eyes were closed as she took a deep breath; sensing the petrichor in the air, she knew it had rained during the night. Based off of the big grey clouds, Hermione could tell the storm was yet to come.

She frowned at the sky, the desire to study had yet again faltered. Hermione would have preferred the storm now, as she quite enjoyed the sound of rain and thunder while inside. Realising she would either have time to eat or study, she headed to the Great Hall for breakfast.

Hermione quickly located her friends at the Gryffindor table and seated herself in front of Neville and Luna, Ginny next to her. 'Good morning,' Ginny chirped.

While pouring some tea, Hermione looked up at the enchanted ceiling of the Great Hall. 'Is it?' she frowned at the grey clouds.

'It'll be sunny tomorrow, Hermione,' the dirty blonde girl said serenely. Luna whipped her head back and scanned the wall. 'The Heliopaths have been hiding all morning which can only mean the storm will happen today,' she clarified after she had inspected her surroundings.

Hermione narrowed her eyes, confused at what a Heliopath was, but she did not ask. She looked over to Neville, he had been eagerly paying attention to Luna. 'At least we'll be dry for tomorrow's practice,' Ginny commented. Hermione gave her a look as if she was asking if she believed in whatever Heliopaths were, Ginny just shrugged in response.

The bushy-haired witch pulled out her Arithmancy book and put it up against a jug of milk. She read as she peacefully ate breakfast. A while later, Luna left, leaving the Gryffindors alone. 'Neville, d'you know what a Helio-pat is?' Ginny asked, furrowing her eyebrows.

'It's a Heliopath,' he corrected her pronunciation. The two witches exchanged confused glances.

'Neville, there's no such thing as a Heliopath,' Hermione said in matter-of-factly.

'Yes, there is. Luna told me all about them,' he said defensively. 'It's a fire spirit that burns anything in its path. You see, rain kills them, that's why Luna couldn't see them,' he spoke quickly. The two witches' mouths were open, they had not expected the wizard to be as knowledgeable about non-existent beasts like the Ravenclaw.

'Neville, don't you think it's weird that only Luna can see the Heliopaths?' Ginny asked.

He shook his head, 'not really. She isn't a magizoologist, how would she know?' The two witches decided to drop the subject as Neville had somehow come to believe that the beasts Luna saw were real.

The three went separate ways after breakfast, not having morning classes together.

After all of Hermione's classes that day, she met up with Ginny and Luna in the library and they all headed to dinner together. When they arrived in the Great Hall, the saw how it was raining outside. 'Would you look at that, Luna was right,' Ginny remarked. Hermione still, however, refused to believe in Heliopaths.

The witches sat down at the Gryffindor table and began eating. 'We should go to Hogsmeade. I still haven't gone,' Luna randomly mentioned and then stuffed her mouth with mash potatoes. As random as it was, the two Gryffindors nodded in agreement.

Through the big windows of the Great Hall, Hermione saw a flash of lightning in the distance. She knew thunder would be heard soon. Screams and yelps could be heard after the first sound of thunder, even Ginny had slightly jumped. Hermione was surprised at how calm Luna had stayed.

Not long after did Neville approach the three witches. He sat down and began putting food in his plate, 'nasty storm,' he commented, his nose crinkled.

'I quite enjoy it,' Hermione countered.

'What took you so long, Neville?' Ginny asked.

'Oh, I was in the library with Lu,' he stopped mid-sentence, his eyes wide. Hermione was certain, he had been about to mention the Ravenclaw witch. 'I mean I was in the library. Ran into Nott,' he finished nonchalantly, avoiding eye contact.

'Wait, what?' Hermione exclaimed, dropping her spoon. 'What happened?'

'I was looking at some books and I got startled as he was just lurking around the corners,' he explained, not realising Hermione and Ginny were paying very close attention. 'He apologised and left. Nothing really.'

Hermione who had been chewing her lips in annoyance when Neville had been speaking clenched her fists. 'Hermione?' Ginny whispered, noticing her friend tense.

'I'm getting answers.'

* * *

At the first sound of thunder, Pansy shrieked and buried her face into Draco's arm. He did not say anything as the witch let go when she had processed what the sound had been. He and Blaise had been discussing Quidditch before, but they stopped as they could see Pansy glaring at the subject. Not long after, did Theo arrive, 'Where were you?' Draco asked as Theo seated himself, in front of Draco.

He had been taken aback by the question and adjusted his spectacles and then patted his hair down as if he was avoiding the question. 'Oh, library,' he curtly said and drank some water. Blaise had shrugged at the answer, while Pansy had narrowed her eyes like Draco.

'Why?' Pansy said, narrowing her eyes more, barely seeing anything.

He looked at the Slytherins surrounding them, he leaned closer to the two. 'Granger is in the library,' he whispered. Draco and Pansy nodded and turned back to their dinner.

'No, she isn't,' Blaise randomly said and brought his fork to his mouth. The three wore different confused expressions, waiting for the wizard to elaborate. 'She's right there,' he slightly gestured to the Gryffindor table. Draco and Pansy turned around to see the muggleborn witch with her friends. They looked back at Theo in a sceptical manner, but he ignored it and continued eating.

They all left to the common room after dinner; the common room had never been a crowded place as Slytherins preferred to be in their dormitories or somewhere else in the castle. Due to the storm, however, the room was crowded. There was still a corner with an empty sofa and armchairs so the four went and occupied the seats.

Draco groaned, when Quidditch suddenly came to mind, he still did not know who the Gryffindor Seeker was. 'Anything on the Seeker?' he asked Blaise who was on the other armchair. He shook his head and then looked at Theo questionably.

'No, haven't heard anything,' he sighed. The three wizards sat quietly, contemplating the mystery Gryffindor Seeker.

'Oh, you can't be serious?' Pansy scoffed, gaining the males' attention. 'Aren't you going to ask me?' she glared at the three from the sofa.

Theo who was next to her, smirked, 'oh, aren't you adorable,' he mocked.

'Fine, I won't tell you then,' she said crossing her arms, her head held high. The two Quidditch players eyes widened.

'What do you know?' Blaise said sceptically, narrowing his eyes.

'You might know who the Seeker is, and you haven't told me?' Draco raised his voice, as he would explode.

'You never asked,' she mocked the two.

'Pansy,' he warned her.

'I only found out today, calm down.' She closed her eyes, organising her thoughts. 'I heard from Bulstrode, who heard from Astoria, who heard from her boyfriend, who's apparently familiar with the Hufflepuffs and I think he heard from…Smith,' she narrowed her eyes, not sure it was the correct Hufflepuff. 'Macmillan told Smith and…Macmillan's girlfriend is Bones and she's friends with the Ravenclaw Patil. Patil is friends with Lovegood, who's best friends with Weasley, who told her that a fifth-year named Dennis Creevey is the Seeker,' she finished her rambling with a smile, impressed that she had remembered her very long source.

The two Quidditch players blinked, not sure they had processed the information. While Theo rubbed his eyes as he had been following Pansy's finger which she had been wafting around the air as she said the names. Draco scratched his neck, unsure what to say, 'umm…guess your gossip was useful,' he said, it had sounded like a question.

'Is he any good? I haven't heard of this Creevey,' Blaise asked which brought Draco back to actuality. _Quidditch, right._ Draco leaned forward, very eager to know about the Seeker.

'Well, my source thinks so,' she began, and Draco slouched in defeat. 'But I have another source,' Draco and Blaise's eyes once again widened, and Theo just seemed exhausted listening to Pansy.

'As I said, Padma Patil heard it from Lovegood and when she found out about the Seeker, she went to her source…,' Pansy paused, teasing the two. 'Her twin sister, Parvati Patil, a Gryffindor. Well, Parvati thinks Weasley pitied the boy.'

'What do you mean?' Draco asked, furrowing his eyebrows.

'First off, he's muggleborn and well, his older brother died…during the last battle,' she said and bit her lips. 'So, he could either be really good or the team pities him…'

* * *

Hermione could not handle it anymore, Nott lurking around Neville had been the last straw. She almost saw them as often as her friends. Theo had even tried to converse with her from time to time, but why? She had never spoken to Theo in all her years of Hogwarts, it had always been Malfoy who had insulted her and her friends while his cronies had laughed.

She had diligently tried to avoid him the past month, was now the time to finally interact with Malfoy? _No. _She could talk to the other Slytherins too. Hermione had made up her mind, it was time to require some answers.

After dinner, she had excused herself and headed out determined. Her eyes were on her feet, as she subconsciously counted her footsteps to calm herself. Hermione wanted to appear intimidating when she approached whoever the lucky Slytherin was.

She reached the staircase that led down to the dungeons, Hermione halted on the steps as she contemplated her hast plan. Was she about to go to the Slytherin common room and pound on the door until someone answered her? _Yes. No. Yes? _Hermione groaned; she was quite indecisive. She took another step down the stairs, hoping she would just meet one of them in the corridor.

She hurried down the last couple of stairs, heading towards the Slytherin common room, her eyes still on her feet. She was completely immersed with counting her steps that she had not noticed the person in front of herself until she bumped shoulders with them.

She turned around to apologise but caught sight of the person's hair. More specifically _his_ white-blonde hair. 'You!' she exclaimed; her face flushed. She had not held back, that was the point of intimidation. She observed Malfoy's reaction, his eyes had widened in shock or maybe fear? It was difficult to read him as he had never displayed any emotion in his previous years. Hermione impatiently waited for his response. No, his retort. But nothing came, he was completely frozen, bewildered.

* * *

'I want an explanation,' Granger demanded in her usual bossy voice, crossing her arms over her chest. Draco blinked a couple of times; he was utterly confused. He had never expected her to utter a word to him after everything he had done, but she had. Noticing that he had stood still far too long, he responded.

'What explanation?' Draco mentally slapped himself, he did not want to sound too nice but instead he had sounded just as rude as he had been in his previous years. He could not change his personality towards her in a matter of seconds, that required time. Time, he did not have as Granger would likely never interact with him.

'Why are your cronies following me?' Draco internally groaned, obviously the brightest witch of her age had noticed. He struggled to find an answer to her question.

He glanced everywhere except for Granger. The past month, Draco had wished she would glance at him, he wanted to be able to confirm himself that she indeed was unharmed. However, now he wanted her to look away because this was not the stare, he wanted from her. Her gaze was cold and stern, she was simply finding another fault in him. He gave up, there was only the truth, no lie could cover this up.

'They've been tailing you fo,' he started, his voice low.

'Tailing me! What were they tailing me for?' she inquired harshly.

'They were tailing you for my sake,' he paused, expecting her to interrupt but she did not. 'I didn't tell them to, they did it on their own accord,' he quickly clarified. Draco waited for her to speak, but she stayed quiet, letting him continue. Her brown eyes were gazing at him studiously, as she waited for elaboration. Now for the truth. 'I've been having nightmares of you…_dying_the night of the skirmish_. _My friends took it upon themselves to normalise your presence and let me know that you were alright, hoping the nightmares would stop.' He looked down at his feet, not able to look her in the eyes.

The only sound that could be heard was the students' voices coming from the ground floor, thankfully no one was wandering the dungeon corridors. Draco slowly glanced away from her feet to her eyes, the anger had melted away from her eyes. She appeared pensive, perhaps thinking about the skirmish.

'You kept seeing me die? He gulped; her eyes were glossy. Her voice had been filled with innocence much like a young child. He opened his mouth to speak, not quite sure what he could say. 'You know what? I wish I was dead! I wish I died that night,' she yelled, her voice had been filled with grief. The last sentence, however, sounded like she had whispered to herself, realising her words. Tears were slowly falling from her eyes. He tried again to say something, but she was quicker. 'Tell your friends to stop. I don't want them tailing me. Sadly, I'm alive,' she said numbly, quietly.

She had not spared him a second to speak, she began walking past him, but Draco took a hold of her upper arm, preventing her from leaving. 'I,' he began, but she interrupted.

'Let go,' she demanded without raising her voice. She attempted to free herself from his grasp, but he held her strongly, wanting to explain himself. The numbness that she seemed to be drowning in was replaced by fear. Was it him? He had regretted his action and loosened his grip; she broke herself free and collapsed on the floor. 'Please, please' she started to plead; Draco stared at her confused. Not knowing what was happening, he helped her up, his hands on her shoulders. He could feel her trembling, as a reflex, he gripped her firmer, afraid she would fall. The muggleborn witch suddenly went completely ballistic, she began shrieking. 'Don't take me! PLEASE! NO!'

'Granger will you stop it already,' he tried to reason with her but there was some sort of barrier. She tried to break free which only caused him to grip her tighter. She shrieked again.

'We found it — We found it — PLEASE!' Draco froze at her shouting, his grip still strong. He remembered those words so vividly. She had yelled those words, the night of the skirmish when she had been tortured. Was she reliving that night? Brushing the thought away, he wrapped his arms around her waist, ready to lift her, but she started shrieking. _This is insane_. He retrieved his wand from his pocket and cast a charm on her before she could shriek more.

'Silencio.'

This time, Draco put an arm around her back and one under her knees and lifted her. She was light, he would have said that carrying her was easy, but she was still trying to release herself. It was a struggle walking up the stairs, but his destination was not far. He had expected empty corridors due to the storm, but a few students were staring at him and whispering. His situation could not look good, he, the notorious Death Eater was carrying the war heroine. He pushed open the great door wooden doors with his back. 'Madam Pomfrey!'

* * *

**Hi! I finally reached 10 chapters! So, Draco and Hermione finally interacted. Please review, I love your thought and opinions as they keep me going and I enjoy the feedback!**


	11. 11 The Episode

Draco rushed into the hospital wing with Granger in his arms; who was trying to escape his grasp. He stood in the large chamber with lots of beds with white sheets displayed on the sides. Moments later, Madam Pomfrey came out from her office, Draco had expected the matron to be alarmed, spotting the Gryffindor in his arms, however, she remained calm.

'Hurry ─ place her on the bed, Mr Malfoy,' Pomfrey told him as she approached. Draco did not respond but immediately did as the witch had ordered. The Gryffindor witch writhed even on the bed as if Draco still had a hold of her.

He was certain, she was going to fall off the bed, but was timid to touch her. 'Madam Pomfrey?' he called after Pomfrey who had disappeared, his eyes on the muggleborn.

Madam Pomfrey came out of her office with a vial and placed it on the side table, next to the bed. 'Did you place a silencing charm on her?' she asked, having noticed the Granger's inaudible screams. He quickly but nervously nodded; his eyes still frozen on Granger. 'Finite.

As soon as she uttered the counter-spell, the muggleborn could be heard again, she was shrieking. Her voice had startled Draco and his hands impulsively went up to cover his ears, her screams were excruciating. He slowly walked backwards, going further away from the screams but halted when he bumped into the next bed. 'Incarcerous,' Pomfrey said.

She had cast another spell and thin ropes had wrapped around Granger which caused her to shriek even louder. Draco slowly descended to a sitting position while gripping his hair. 'Make it stop. Make it…stop,' he quietly pleaded to himself, his breaths fast.

Her screams came to a stop and Draco suddenly vomited all over the floors, his breaths still quick. His eyes were closed, he was gripping his hair while rubbing his temples with his palms. He heard Pomfrey mutter a charm and he opened his eyes to see clean floors. 'Drink some of this, dear,' she said with a sweet tone, handing him a vile.

He chugged it down, he felt a calmness spread through his body and replace the apprehension. He stood up and walked over to the bed, where Granger laid, sound asleep, the ropes were gone. 'What did you give her?' he asked, concerned for her, not curious at all what he had drunk himself.

'Calming- and Sleeping Draught,' she said while adjusting Granger's pillow. 'Now, I need you to tell me what happened because there's nothing physically wrong with her.'

Draco stared at Granger, what had happened? The situation had been sudden and engulfing, he had not been able to process it. He tried to make words of the situation, but his thoughts were cut off when the two large wooden doors of the infirmary burst open.

In came the headmistress and the four head of houses. 'Poppy, I came as quick as I heard,' McGonagall said. Pomfrey, who had been about to speak was interrupted by a loud sob.

'Mione…no,' Hagrid cried. Professor Sprout patted the half-giant's back while urging him to lower his voice.

'Now,' the matron began after Hagrid had seemingly quieted down. 'Mr Malfoy was just about to tell me, what happened.' All six pairs of eyes turned to look at Draco.

'Well, Mr Malfoy?' the headmistress said, awaiting his answer.

'Erm…well,' he began, still not knowing how to describe the situation. The doors once again opened and a fiery-haired witch entered, a scowl on her face. 'Malfoy,' Weasley growled, seeing him. 'If you laid even a finger on her, I swear to Merlin that I'll k─,' she said while marching her way towards Malfoy, her wand aimed at his face. Had it not been for Slughorn and Flitwick grabbing the witch, he was not sure what would have happened to him.

'Miss Weasley!' McGonagall yelled, at her hasty reaction. 'Do you perhaps know what has happened?' her stern demeanour vanishing.

'Yes,' she said, then glared at Malfoy. 'But I'm not saying anything when _he's_ here.'

Draco internally groaned at the youngest Weasley. 'You know, Weasley if it weren't for me, she could've been going mental in the dungeons,' he countered, his eyebrow raised haughtily.

'Did you consider that she wouldn't have if it weren't for you ─ you self-absorbed ferret!' Draco froze at her words, of course, that was a consideration in the back of his mind, but he hoped it was not true. Had he for the past seven years been so horrid that it caused the muggleborn to lose her senses? Apparently. He felt the familiar sensation of guilt spread through his body, but the vial was suppressing it efficiently.

'I've had it with the two of you!' Madam Pomfrey yelled. 'Miss Granger needs rest and we're too many in here as it is. Now, Hagrid, Miss Granger will be fine so you can go back to your hut. Miss Weasley if you could come to my office with Minerva and me to discuss Miss Granger's condition. The rest of you are welcome to stay or leave,' the matron ordered. Flitwick and Sprout accompanied Hagrid while McGonagall and Weasley went into Pomfrey's office with her. Leaving Draco with Slughorn and Granger who was still asleep.

'How are you doing, Mr Malfoy?' Slughorn asked him, catching him off guard. He looked away from Granger's sleeping body up to his Head of House.

'Erm…yes…alright sir,' he said, not wanting to share anything with the potion's master.

'If you say so,' Slughorn said in a tone as if he was more knowledgeable about Draco's state. Ignoring the professor, he summoned a chair and sat down, watching the muggleborn. He looked away when the matron's office door opened, out came the three witches. 'Now, Miss Weasley it's getting rather late, you can visit tomorrow.' She turned towards Draco, 'Mr Malfoy, you best head back to your common room.' He gave a curt nod and exited the room with Weasley. She glared at him before leaving, he was quite thankful she had not stayed to yell at him some more.

The sun had set but Draco had no desire to go back to the common room and he was certain he would not be able to sleep after Granger's episode. _Episode? _His train of thought was cut when he heard the door to the hospital wing open, he quickly hid in an alcove. He saw Headmistress McGonagall and Professor Slughorn exit and disappear from view. Taking it as an opportunity, he re-entered the hospital wing and sat on the chair next to Granger's bed.

'Mr Malfoy,' Pomfrey said, appearing in the room.

'Madam Pomfrey,' he acknowledged her. 'Would it be alright if I…,' he began asking if he could stay in the wing.

'No harm if she's asleep, I suppose,' she said thoughtfully and felt Granger's forehead. 'You just sit here, I'll get some Dreamless Sleep Potion,' she said, about to leave before Draco spoke.

'Could you perhaps bring some for me?' he asked. He had in the moment decided to stay in the hospital wing overnight and he preferred not to have nightmare when today had already been one.

'Yes, of course. Do you perhaps have reoccurring nightmares?' she asked. Draco had not expected any follow up questions.

'No,' he lied. 'Thought I'd take some, in case, because of her…episode,' he made up a lie. She nodded and left. _Episode. Episode?_ He had referred to the incident as an episode twice, it sounded familiar. _Episode. Episode. Episode._ The word ringed in his mind, over and over again. Draco knew it sounded familiar but could not place where he had heard it.

He brushed the thoughts away when he heard the clicking of Pomfrey's shoes. 'Here you are, Mr Malfoy,' she said, handing him a vial; he drank it all in one slurp. She poured the contents of the second vial into Granger's mouth, she began coughing, unable to swallow while asleep. 'Anapneo,' Pomfrey said pointing her wand at the muggleborn and the coughing stopped.

Draco handed her the empty vial and she went back to her office. _Episode. Episode. Episode. _It suddenly clicked in his mind. The journal. The mystery witch had written about occurrences when she had been out of it and not remembered anything afterwards, she had referred to it as episodes. He looked at Granger, was she really the unknown witch?

He retrieved his wand from his pocket. 'Accio journal,' he said, flicking his wand. Through an open window, the journal came flying and fell into his lap, just as he heard Pomfrey enter the room. She was holding a silver tray with a tea set on top, the same silver. She placed it on the side table, poured a cup and handed it to Draco. 'Thank you,' he said, grabbing the cup.

She grabbed her cup and seated herself on a chair on the left side of the bed. Ignoring the elder witch, he opened the book again, flipping through the pages that he had read. 'Are you all right, Mr Malfoy?' she asked, Draco stopped himself from groaning. He had to know if Granger indeed, was the unknown witch. He took a sip from his tea, and furrowed his eyebrows at the question, waiting for elaboration. 'Miss Granger's incident had quite an effect on you.' He brushed a hand through his hair and then sipped some more tea, he was avoiding the question. Draco was not sure if he should answer honestly or not, but she was only the matron, what was the worst that could happen if she knew?

'It was only natural it had an impact on me,' he started. 'Do you know about the skirmish that took place in my home?' he asked and sipped tea while she nodded. 'Granger said some things earlier that she said that night. And the screaming…it was…well, it simply reminded me of the skirmish.' He drank more tea, not knowing what to do or where to look.

'Ah, that is understandable.' She did not question him any further and Draco went back to the journal.

_I sometimes imagine how it would be if I never became a witch. I think they wish that too. _

He rubbed his temples; how narrow-minded could he have been? The unknown witch's parents had not wished that their daughter be a squib but rather a muggle like themselves. Draco had thought the witch had been fighting alongside the Order, but she had been a part of the Order itself. He flicked to the first entry.

_I missed her and dad. I was so afraid last year if I would ever see them again. When mum cried after realising what I had done to protect them, I felt as if I had disappointed her. Oh, and when dad cried that hurt so much, I have never seen him cry. As angry as I felt when they distanced me from my friends, I could not burden them with my anger._

Draco reread the section over and over again; trying to grasp what the witch was saying. He understood now that the reason she had gone to such an extreme was due to her parents being muggles. However, he still did not know what the extreme was. He closed the journal, knowing the owner made him not want to read more.

He was perplexed, flustered and did not know what he felt knowing that the unknown witch most likely was Granger. Draco looked up at Pomfrey and noticed how her eyes were narrowed, watching him as she drank her tea. 'It's getting late, you have classes tomorrow. Best you leave and call it a night,' she said standing up and taking the tray from the side table.

'Madam Pomfrey, is it possible if I could stay at the hospital wing?' She raised her eyebrow, questionably. 'In case I need more Dreamless Sleeping Potion,' he went with his lie. Her eyes were narrowed, in a suspicious manner but she simply nodded and left. She came back once more, 'you can sleep in one of the beds.' She then with her wand, summoned a privacy screen which surrounded Granger's bed. 'There's Dreamless Sleep Potion on the shelf,' she pointed. Draco nodded at her and the matron left to her headquarters.

He looked at Granger who was sleeping; her chest rising and falling was the only indicator that she indeed was alive. He took the journal out of his lap and placed it on her side table. He had watched her late into the night and only stopped when he fell asleep.

Everything was black, Hermione's eyes were shut, she opened them to see the white high ceiling. She felt fabric all around her; she was in a bed. She did not attempt to sit, and instead Hermione tried to recall what had happened. She had gone to the dungeons. _The_ _Slytherins. Malfoy. Tailing. _She jolted up into a sitting position, she could not remember anything after she had confronted Malfoy. She had had a panic attack and Malfoy had been there. _No, no, no._ She had not had one in a while, "_I wish I was dead!" __She groaned, why had she said that?_

However, she did. Why she wished death upon herself, she could not explain in words. Being alive, felt like a constant air of melancholy enclosed around her. The feeling of grief she felt for the people that had died also still followed her.

Her parents had explained to her that she felt survivals guilt, but Hermione opposed the idea. She had not been feeling guilty, she had been_ grieving and still did. The thought of taking her life had come to mind a few times. But she never actually considered it, she just wished her feelings would change for the better or at least…disappear completely. She also did not think it was fair to the people that died for the better good, therefore, she forced herself to live with the pain. _

She looked up and saw a privacy screen blocking her view of the large room. Hermione looked from the left and slowly towards the right. Her eyes widened when she saw a person asleep on a chair. _Malfoy._ His elbow rested on the chair's arm, and his head laid in his palm.

Hermione assumed the hospital wing was empty, besides from Malfoy and her, based off of the pitch-black sky. As much as she wanted to know why Malfoy sat in front of her and what had happened during her panic attack, she was exhausted, unable to think properly. She laid back in the bed and fell asleep.

Draco could feel sunlight trying to penetrate through his eyelids, he clenched them, blocking the light. 'Mr Malfoy…Mr Malfoy,' he heard a kind, soft voice as a hand on his shoulder shook him. He felt his palm against his cheek, he pushed his elbow off the arm of the chair and rubbed his face until he finally opened his eyes. He immediately closed them; his eyes not used to the bright light. He slowly opened them to find Pomfrey next to him.

'It's quite early, but I supposed you would wish to freshen up before breakfast,' she said.

'Oh, yes. Thank you for waking me,' he said with a nod. He stood up and walked closer to the bed. Granger was lying on her side, her massive hair concealing her face. Spotting her hair, a chuckle escaped his mouth, he furrowed at his action. Checking the muggleborn one last time he headed out of the infirmary.

Finally, alone, he stretched his arms and back. He had ended up falling asleep in the chair which had not been the wisest choice when the wing had been filled with beds. He slowly made his way to the Slytherin common room and entered. The room was deserted as it was still very early. He went to the boys' dormitory bathroom and took a shower.

Draco went from his dormitory to the common room and saw his male friends sitting waiting for him. He sat down on the sofa next to Theo and his head fell to rest on his shoulder. He had not had the best sleep, having slept in a chair for not many hours. Theo pushed him off, causing Draco's head to hit the arm of the sofa instead. 'Five more minutes,' he said, his eyes closed.

'Mate, where were you? You never came back to the common room yesterday,' Theo said. Draco did not respond, still tired.

'Draco Lucius Malfoy!' he heard a high-pitch voice shout, and Draco immediately shot up into a standing position to find Pansy in front of him. 'You have some explaining to do,' she simply said and leaned against Blaise's armchair.

'What did he do now?' he asked.

'Yeah, what did I do now? I just want to sleep before class,' Draco whined.

'Well, when something happens to you, I expect to hear it from you and not the rest of the school!' she exclaimed.

Worry filled inside of him. _No, it can't be_. 'I'll explain everything, but I need to know what you know,' he told her hurriedly, his hands on her shoulders.

'Well, Daphne and I were talking this morning, like we always do,' she began, and Theo had already let out a groan, but she ignored it. 'And she told me, Astoria heard─'

'Pansy get to the point,' Draco hurriedly said.

'Based on, how quickly I found out, I'd say half the school is talking about "infamous Death Eater, Draco Malfoy hauling war heroine, Hermione Granger against her will".'

'No,' he quietly said to himself.

'Mate,' Blaise began, unsure what to say.

'Draco, what happened after you left the common room yesterday?' Theo asked.

Draco covered his face with his hands, he could not grasp the situation. Not only had he caused the muggleborn's episode, now the whole school knew, and he once again made Granger's life miserable. 'Believe me, if I knew what happened I'd tell you, I'm just as confused as the rest of you,' he said and then began pacing, not sure what to do next. 'First off, stop all the tailing and reporting back to me. She knows and she wasn't pleased…obviously.' The three nodded in understanding.

'Why don't you start from when you saw Granger?' Theo said and then whipped his head around to see if anyone was eavesdropping.

'She demanded to know what the three of you were doing and then…'

'What?' Blaise and Pansy said in unison.

'She went completely mental.'


End file.
